Lewin: “Putin’s Proposal is not Acceptable to Chabad”

In a statement released this morning by Nathan Lewin, the attorney representing Chabad in the lawsuit against Russia, in which Chabad is trying to compel the state to return the ‘Schneerson Collection’ to its rightful owners with no strings attached.

This statement came in response to remarks made by the Russian President Vladimir Putin while visiting the Jewish Museum of Tolerance in Moscow:

“President Putin’s proposal to display the Schneerson collection in a Moscow museum is not acceptable to Chabad.  Chabad is the rightful owner of the collection, and its return to the United States is the only acceptable outcome that is consistent with the clear directives of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. The collection must be returned to the Agudas Chasidei Chabad library at Chabad’s worldwide headquarters in Brooklyn, New York.”

In January a Washington, D.C., judge has fined Russia $50,000 a day until it returns the Seforim and documents to Chabad. Putin floated the idea this week of transferring them to the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center as a way to resolve the impasse.

In response Russia has halted all art exhibit loans to the U.S., fearing they would be seized and held hostage in the court battle.