The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has said that a criminal case opened against the Library of Ukrainian Literature in Moscow and its director, Natalia Sharina, has been closed.
"The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry now notes with satisfaction that the Russian courts have put an end to this situation by closing the criminal case against the Library of Ukrainian Literature in Moscow and its director Sharina," the ministry’s press service reported on Friday.
The ministry recalled that the criminal case had been opened in December 2010 in connection with the alleged existence of extremist literature in the library.
"Today we can state with satisfaction that the results of the investigation conducted by the Russian law enforcement agencies did not show any signs of the presence of such literature in the library or any crime in the actions of its director," reads the statement.
The ministry also said that the court had ordered the Russian law enforcement agencies to return the books and servers that were seized during the investigation to the library and to create the conditions for the library’s director "to restore her good name."
As reported, on December 18, the Moscow city prosecutor’s office launched criminal proceedings in relation to the spread of literature marked by ethnic enmity in the grounds of the library in 2008-2010.
A study conducted by the Institute of Linguists of the Russian Academy of Sciences had recognized that publications incited national enmity and hatred.
