Georgian, who stolen the rare publication of the works of Russian literary classics from the University Library in Vilnius, was sentenced on Monday in Lithuania for three years and four months of imprisonment. In addition, the court acknowledged him as guilty of a group of membership behind a series of similar thefts across Europe.
As AFP reported, Georgian in May 2023 stolen from the Vilnius library of EUR 606,000, which have a high cultural and historical value. He confessed to theft of 17 books, including the works of Alexander Pushkin and Nikolai Gogoľ.
Order from Moscow
During the court hearing in April, the accused testified that the theft of books was ordered by a Russian employee of the Moscow Auction House. He also claimed that this man also provided him with a false card to enter the university, as well as the hard to distinguish counterfeits to leave in the library instead of stolen works.
The Georgian stated that he smuggled the books west through Belarus and received 30,000 euros in the cryptocurrency.
According to AFP, the convicted person worked within the group working in Lithuania, Poland, France, Switzerland and Georgia. The Lithuanian authorities also detained two other Georgian nationals, but their cases are discussed in a separate procedure.
Georgian was detained in 2023 in Belgium, where he was transferred to Lithuania. He should now be taken to France, where he is accused of other thefts of this type.
Extensive damage
The Guardian wrote at the time that an organized group from Georgia in 2022-23 stealing rare books from libraries in several European countries: in the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Switzerland. They alienated approximately 170 works, causing damage for more than 2.5 million euros.
In November 2023, the EU judicial cooperation agency (Eurojust) began to coordinate international legal steps: it organized three meetings, supported the establishment of an international team with France, Lithuania, Poland, Georgia and Switzerland and established a coordination center for joint intervention in Georgia and Latvia.
In these activities, the Europol police organization assisted by exchange of information between countries, helped identify perpetrators and revealed some unrecognized cases of theft.
