Submitted by Fox First at Ten on January 16th
By FREDERIC J. FROMMERAssociated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - A federal judge is fining Russia $50,000 a day for refusing to return a Jewish group's historic books and documents.
Chief Judge Royce Lamberth of the U.S. District Court issued the order Wednesday, a week after a hearing on the case. It was made over the objection of the Justice Department, which argued that fines wouldn't help resolve the dispute and in fact would be counterproductive.
Lamberth had previously ruled the records were unlawfully possessed by the Russian State Library and the Russian military archive. In 2010, he ordered Russia to turn them over to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow or to the Jewish group's representative.
Russia refused to comply, and it's not clear Moscow will respond now. The Russian Embassy didn't immediately respond to an email.
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