In France, six Georgian citizens received prison sentences for a series of thefts of rare editions of Russian classical literature from major European libraries. The French newspaper Le Monde reported this. Among the convicted are five men and one woman who were caught with stolen books during a festive meeting of cultural figures. The main suspect is 49-year-old Beka Tsirekidze, who allegedly added about forty books to his collection over three years. He was detained in Estonia for 3.5 years pending an analytical investigation. The French prosecutor noted that the band acted "systematically, organized, calculated and financially." The presented evidence includes books found by investigators. They studied the editions, photographed and measured them, and then returned and handed over the originals to the highest authorities.