Dutch court says Crimean priceless objects will go back to Ukraine

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - The Netherlands' highest court ended a nearly decade-long dispute Friday on priceless objects from Crimea by ruling the collection must be handed over to Ukraine.

The Supreme Court of the Netherlands ruled the Amsterdam Court of Appeal correctly applied the law in the case involving the disputed objects from Crimea.

The objects must be handed to Ukraine as determined by the Court of Appeal on Oct. 26, 2021, said the Court, ending a nearly 10-year legal battle about the priceless collection.

The ruling means the artifacts, as "part of the Ukrainian cultural heritage" will be returned to Ukraine, not Crimea which was annexed by Russia in 2014.

The Allard Pierson Museum, which has ensured the safe storage of the objects since 2014 as Ukraine and museums in Crimea laid claim to the objects, said it can now "act in accordance with the ruling."

The Court of Amsterdam ruled in December 2016, that Allard Pierson Museum must hand over the objects to Ukraine. The Crimean museums appealed the ruling.

In its interim judgment, the Court of Appeal ruled that the Allard Pierson Museum had acted lawfully by having the objects in question stored in 2014 pending a final judgment in the legal proceedings. According to the court, Allard Pierson “could not reasonably assess which of the candidates was the due creditor.”

In its final judgment on Oct. 26, 2021, the Amsterdam Court of Appeal ruled that the objects from Crimea, which have been carefully preserved in the Netherlands since 2014, should be handed to Ukraine.