Russia - A Russian envoy said negotiations surrounding the
future of the Schneerson Library are being called of until officials from the
New York-based Chabad-Lubavitch of America drop their lawsuit against the
Russian Federation.
M.RBTH.ru reports that Mikhail Shvydkoi, Russian
presidential envoy for international cultural cooperation, made his comments
Tuesday during an interview at the main offices of Interfax.
“There can be no talk at all until the withdrawal of this
lawsuit, which I see as unlawful and absolutely legally void in relation to the
Russian Federation,” said Shvydkoi. “And then, if the lawsuit is withdrawn,
there are always opportunities for any negotiations.”
Chabad-Lubavitch of America has been actively seeking the return
of the Schneerson Library since the late 1980s, but stepped up efforts after a
Washington federal judge ruled in 2010 that the Hasidim had proven legitimate
ownership.
In January of 2013, a U. S. district court judge in
Washington hit the Russians with a $50K per-day fine until the library is
returned to America, an exercise Russian president Vladimir Putin called
“impossible,” before ordering that the library be turned over to the Jewish
Tolerance Center in Moscow and declaring the matter “closed.”
Shvydkoi reiterated Putin’s declaration later in the
interview.
“I believe the Schneerson collection issue has been closed.
The library has been handed over to the Tolerance Center, which is in fact a
cultural center of the large Hasidic community in Russia.
These books are
sacred to the Hasidim. They are kept by people for whom they are sacred. The
books have never left the Russian Federation. I believe the problem has been
settled,” said Shvydkoi.
No comments:
Post a Comment