Zürcher Nachrichten - Seven Georgians tried in France over theft of rare Russian books

The trial is the latest case seeking justice for a spate of similar thefts in recent years from libraries across Europe, suspected to be the work of an organised network.

The thefts targeted rare Russian classics worth millions of euros in total, including by 19th-century literary greats Pushkin and Nikolai Gogol.

The defendants on trial in France have been charged with criminal conspiracy and intent to commit an offence, while some of them are also charged with theft of an exhibited cultural object. They face up to 10 years in prison.

Two are being tried in absentia, with warrants out for their arrests.

Two others -- identified only as Mikheil Z. and Beqa T. -- have already been convicted and imprisoned in other countries for similar crimes and have been temporarily handed over to France.

Mikheil Z., 50, was sentenced last year in Lithuania to three years and four months in prison for the organised theft of 19th-century publications valued at 606,000 euros ($698,000).

Beqa T., 49, was sentenced to three years and six months in prison in Estonia.

French investigating judges suspect the defendants were part of "an organised criminal network", according to parts of the investigation seen by AFP.

The thefts, which also hit Germany, Switzerland and the Czech Republic, spurred the creation of a joint investigation team under the European Union police and justice coordination agencies Europol and Eurojust that led to several arrests in 2024.

- 'Strengthening its protection' -

The crimes in France took place in 2023 at the Diderot Library of the Ecole Normale Superieure (ENS) in the eastern city of Lyon, and at the National Library of France (BnF) and the University Library of Languages and Civilisations (BULAC) in Paris.

According to investigators, the thieves went to the libraries to consult rare and valuable works, photographing and measuring them, and returned later to replace them with virtually undetectable copies.

Between March and October 2023, Mikheil Z. went to the BnF 40 times to request access to manuscripts, mainly by Pushkin, claiming he was doing research on democracy in 19th-century Russian literature.

In November, the library realised nine works had been replaced with copies, with an estimated loss of 650,000 euros.

Mikheil Z. admitted to investigators that he stole the works but denied working with the other defendants, claiming he was driven by greed and had sold the books in Russia.

In June 2024, Russia's Litfond auction house listed in its catalogue a second edition of Pushkin's "The Prisoner of the Caucasus", a book corresponding to a copy stolen from the BnF.

The auction house told French authorities it had documentation proving the book was acquired from its owner in Russia in 2014/2015.

In the eyes of the investigative judges, the thefts may be linked to a desire to repatriate Russia's cultural heritage at a time when Moscow's relations with Europe have been increasingly strained over the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

None of the stolen works have been found, though BnF lawyer Alexandre de Konn said the institution "has not given up hope of recovering these works".

The library "remains true to its mission: to continue making heritage open to the public while constantly strengthening its protection", he told AFP.

L.Zimmermann--NZN