After A Decade Of Ignoring The Court Case, Russia Is Returning To The Courtroom Over The Lubavitch Library Held In Russia

by CrownHeights.info

After more than ten years of ignoring a US Court ruling saying that they have to return the Library of books and manuscripts taken from Lubavitch, Russia has changed course and is now heading back to the courtroom.

According to a Routers report, Philadelphia-based lawyer Bruce Marks of Marks & Sokolov in a filing on Friday said the firm was “familiarizing itself with the extensive case files” in the litigation in Washington, D.C., federal court and preparing to challenge key orders.

The firm has a lot to catch up on since Russia lost a bid to dismiss the case over ten years ago..

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth in 2010 ordered the return of the historical books at the heart of the dispute to Agudas Chasidei Chabad, finding Russia in default. The judge imposed a daily fine of $50,000 against Russia for defying the order, a fine that has now grown to more than $194 million.

“Ten years ago, Russia, having lost the case, essentially took its ball and went home. Now it’s saying that it wants a do-over,” Steven Lieberman, the lawyer for Chabad in this case said. “But that’s not how the legal system works.”