Georgian citizens are detained on suspicion of stealing rare books in the European Union / Article

Judging by “Europol” and “Eurojust” information, the group operated in France, Czech Republic, Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, where books were stolen from national and historical libraries. Four persons were detained in Georgia, three in Estonia, France and Lithuania.

The thieves pretended to be researchers with academic interests and asked to show them antique rarities. They have been carefully photographed and measured. Then they gave it back, later they came again, asked to show the books again and secretly exchanged them for fakes they had brought with them, which were prepared in excellent quality.

There have also been cases where thieves stole books right away, without even bothering to exchange them for fake ones, but simply damaged the magnetic sticker.

This happened two years ago in the National Library of Latvia with the 1829 edition of Pushkin’s poem “Poltava” and with two works by Aleksei Kručonihs “Protestēsim” and “Victory over the Sun” published in 1913. In Latvia, one of the thieves was convicted, but the other is still being sought.

The representative of the National Library of Latvia, Augusts Zilberts, told the LTV program “4. studija” that the thieves hid the books, most likely, behind their clothes and took them outside.

In order for the uninitiated to understand what values ​​have been lost to the Palace of Light and thus to the entire society, Guna Zelmene, manager of the antique book store, called the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

“One of these books is in the exposition of the MoMA museum in New York, the other is in the funds of this museum. So they are uniquely unique,” emphasized Zelmene.

The stolen books have not been found in Latvia. The Latvian police has no information whether the person who stole from the National Library is among those currently detained.

In Georgia, where there are the most detainees, the prosecutor says, the investigation is still ahead.

“These individuals have been accused of stealing books from libraries in Lyon, Paris, Warsaw and Munich,” said Lasha Kotrikadze, prosecutor of the General Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia. “Under Georgia law, this qualifies as organized gang theft, which carries a prison sentence of 6 to 10 years.”

Lithuania now also hopes to convict the thief of its library.

“One person was detained in the Kingdom of Belgium and then handed over to us under a European arrest warrant,” said the Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Vilnius District Prosecutor’s Office Lutaurs Rudzevičs. “He is suspected of stealing from the Vilnius University library.”

It is believed that a group of criminals in Europe stole no less than 170 books for a total amount of around 2.5 million euros.