France sentences six Georgians up to seven years for stealing rare Pushkin editions from Paris and Lyon libraries

Court verdict

Six Georgian nationals — five men and one woman — were convicted in Paris in the night of 12 to 13 June 2026 for the theft of rare works by Russian authors, including Alexander Pushkin, from prestigious French libraries. The sentences range from 18 months suspended to seven years in prison. Mikheil Zamtaradze (referred to as Mikheïl Z. in French proceedings), aged 50, received the heaviest sentence: seven years in prison with continued detention and a permanent ban from French territory. He was already serving a three-year, four-month sentence in Lithuania for stealing 19th-century publications worth €606,000. Beka Tsirekidze (Beqa T.), 49, was handed four additional years beyond a 3.5-year term he is serving in Estonia. Two further defendants were tried in absentia and sentenced to six years each; they were arrested in Georgia, which does not extradite its citizens, and are already serving five-year terms there.

Inside the operation

The thefts took place in 2023 at three French libraries: the Diderot library of the École Normale Supérieure in Lyon, the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) in Paris, and the Bibliothèque universitaire des langues et civilisations (Bulac) in Paris. At the BnF alone, six editions of Pushkin, two by Mikhail Lermontov and one by Evgueni Baratynski were stolen, with damages estimated at €770,000. The thieves used a sophisticated method: they visited libraries to photograph and measure rare books, then returned later with high-quality facsimiles to swap in place of the originals. Mikheïl Z. presented himself at the BnF roughly forty times, claiming to be researching democracy in Russian literature.

“Pushkin's original works are national relics in Russia. To own a book by Pushkin in Russia is to own a fragment of national identity.”

A European network

The French case is part of a wider pattern. Similar thefts of rare Russian editions were recorded in Poland, Germany, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic between 2022 and 2024. A joint investigation team under Europol and Eurojust led to multiple arrests in April 2024. The total value of stolen books across Europe runs into several million euros, encompassing works by Pushkin, Nikolai Gogol, and Lermontov. The prosecutor described the operation as a "real treasure theft — massive, organized, planned, executed with care and cynicism."

Cultural artifacts, not just books

Pushkin is widely regarded as the founder of modern Russian literature. The prosecutor's remarks underscored that these were not ordinary rare books but objects carrying deep symbolic weight. The comparison to national relics reflects the unique status Pushkin holds in Russian cultural identity, elevating the thefts beyond a straightforward property crime.

Remaining questions

The trial has left judges with an unresolved question: was this simply an organized rare-book trafficking ring motivated by money, or does it point to foreign interference? The international structure of the case, with defendants facing proceedings across several European countries, has kept that question alive. Investigators and prosecutors have noted the potential, but no formal finding of state involvement has been announced.