The Swiss federal Court has denied the seizure and the restitution to the Italian authorities of a painting attributed to Leonardo da Vinci.
Italy got nothing. The Federal Court has ruled that the portrait of Isabella d’Este attributed to Leonardo will remain in Switzerland. By a judgment dated May 13, the judges have reversed the decisions of the Cantonal Public Prosecutor and of the Criminal Federal Court and ruled in favour of the owner of the painting, denying the seizure and the restitution to the Italian authorities.
The two previous decisions were released after the owner of the painting had been sentenced in Italy to 1 year and two months of prison for illicit traffic of artworks without an exportation license from Italy. This offence, however, has not the same structure in the Swiss law and for this reason double jeopardy has not been met.
Therefore, the Federal Court has ruled that the rogatory and the seizure requests could not be followed up.
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