green Vault
Confession at jewel theft trial in Dresden
A defendant in the Green Vault jewel heist trial. Photo: Sebastian Kahnert/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Since the end of January, the district court of Dresden has been negotiating against several young men because of the spectacular burglary in Saxony’s treasury museum. They were all silent – until now.
A bang after two months: One of the six defendants in the process of stealing jewels from the historic Green Vault Dresden at the end of November 2019 broke his silence.
In the “statement on the matter” read by his defense attorney in the district court on Tuesday, the 28-year-old from Berlin admitted to having participated in the preparation of the burglary on November 25th, 2019 in the museum in the Residenzschloss. He will only limit himself to the information about the events “as far as I was involved”. Attorney Kai Kempgens said he would not comment on the involvement of others. His client did not answer any questions.
In Dresden, six men between the ages of 23 and 28 are accused of serious gang theft, arson and particularly serious arson. The Germans come from a well-known Arab family in Berlin.
Accused: Approached by one of the perpetrators
According to the confession, the 28-year-old was approached on November 20, 2019 by one of the later perpetrators, “who was also the main planner”. “He asked if I wanted to take part in the burglary,” he said, well prepared, the plan ingenious and the loot big. He then got a rental car on instruction, which he and two others drove to Dresden in the evening. “They had been involved for a long time and knew their way around.” Only then did he find out that “jewels of great value” were being stolen from the Green Vault and that he was supposed to “act with others on the street and in front of the entrance window” and load the loot.
Shortly before midnight, they then climbed over the castle wall to check the visibility and escape options at the selected entry window into the museum. It had been explained to him that the lattice at the subsequent entry window had been prepared a few days earlier. According to the indictment, at an unknown time before the crime, the accused cut out a piece as an opening, “preferably with a hydraulically operated cutting device”, then reinserted the part and fixed it with adhesive material.
On the evening of November 24, he was driving with others on the way to the agreed meeting point in Berlin-Tempelhof when the car was stopped by a police patrol, his and the others’ personal details were taken and burglary tools were found in the trunk. “It was clear to me that it was over, the risk seemed too high.” Then he got out. “The act was committed independently of me and without me.” He explained a DNA trace of himself in one of the later getaway cars by saying that he was in it once after the day of the crime.
Stolen goods worth over 113 million euros
In the early morning of November 25, the accused are said to have stolen 21 pieces of jewelery with a total of 4,300 diamonds and brilliants with a total value of over 113 million euros from the famous baroque treasury museum and also left property damage of over one million euros. They are also accused of having set fire to a power box in the old town and a getaway car in the underground car park of a residential building.
Six nights earlier, three people stayed undisturbed for almost half an hour at the later entrance window to the museum in the residential palace. A police video that was shown on the morning of the day of the trial shows them climbing over the wall in front of the west wing at 2:42 a.m. on November 19, 2019 – with large bags. Other people can also be seen in the video, but not sharply.
In the film, which lasts almost an hour, several dark-clad figures approach the theater square on foot, then sit for minutes on the steps of the Schinkelwache and look across the street at the west wing of the palace. More come and go away, until finally three people climb over the wall at the north-west corner tower, which leads to the fence of the castle. First her shadows can still be seen on the facade of the window, then the darkness in the corner swallows her up – except for a few intermittent flashes of light. They only returned at 3:09 a.m. – and left with four others. The trial will resume on April 5th.