Six Georgian Suspects Sentenced for Orchestrated Theft of Valuable Russian Literary Treasures from French Libraries

Six Georgian nationals have been sentenced in France to prison terms of up to seven years for stealing rare Russian literary classics, including first editions of works by 19th‑century author Alexander Pushkin, from prestigious French libraries.

This trial represents the most recent effort to bring justice for a series of comparable thefts that have occurred in recent years at libraries throughout Europe, which authorities believe are orchestrated by an organized network possibly linked to Russia.

The perpetrators stole rare Russian classics collectively valued at millions of euros, among them first editions by 19th‑century authors Alexander Pushkin, Nikolai Gogol, and Mikhail Lermontov.

All six defendants — five men and one woman — were convicted overnight between Friday and Saturday of criminal conspiracy with the intent to commit an offence; several were additionally charged with theft of a cultural asset on display.

Two of the individuals were sentenced in absentia, having been arrested in their native Georgia, a country that does not extradite its citizens.

Another pair, identified only as Mikheil Z. and Beqa T., had already been convicted and imprisoned abroad for comparable offenses and were temporarily transferred to French authorities.

Mikheil Z., 50, received the most severe sentence of seven years’ imprisonment, a lifelong prohibition from re‑entering French territory after release, and deportation; he had previously been sentenced in Lithuania to three years and four months for the organized theft of 19th‑century publications worth €606,000.

Beqa T., 49, was sentenced to an additional four years, on top of the three years and six months he had already served in Estonia.

The prosecutor emphasized in his submission that the six defendants’ theft was massive, organized, meticulously planned, and carried out with cynical precision.

Russian ring?

The thefts, which also occurred in Germany, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic, prompted the formation of a joint investigation team by European Union police and justice agencies Europol and Eurojust, resulting in several arrests in 2024.

The crimes in France occurred in 2023 at the Diderot Library of the École Normale Supérieure (ENS) in Lyon, as well as at the National Library of France (BnF) and the University Library of Languages and Civilisations (BULAC) in Paris.

Investigators say the thieves entered the libraries to examine rare and valuable works, photographing and measuring them, before later returning to substitute the originals with virtually undetectable copies.

From March to October 2023, Mikheil Z. visited the BnF forty times to request access to manuscripts, primarily by Pushkin, claiming he was researching democracy in 19th‑century Russian literature.

In November, the library discovered that nine works had been replaced with copies, representing an estimated loss of €650,000.

In June 2024, Russia’s Litfond auction house listed a second edition of Pushkin’s *The Prisoner of the Caucasus* in its catalogue, a volume that matched a copy stolen from the BnF.

The auction house informed French authorities that it possessed documentation showing the book had been acquired from its Russian owner in 2014–2015.

Investigating magistrates suspect the thefts may be motivated by an effort to repatriate Russia’s cultural heritage amid increasingly strained relations between Moscow and Europe over the invasion of Ukraine.

None of the stolen works has been recovered, but BnF lawyer Alexandre de Konn said the institution “has not given up hope of recovering them.”

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