theft
Defendant in the Green Vault trial: No commissioned crime
Six men are on trial for the spectacular burglary at the State Museum in which 18th-century jewels were stolen. photo
© Jens Schlueter/AFP/POOL/dpa
The art theft from Saxony’s Treasury Museum is considered one of the most spectacular in Germany. But there was no specific client, says one of the defendants.
According to a defendant, there was no customer for the theft of jewels from the historic green vault. The saleability of the jewelry was assessed as good, said one of the accused in the trial for the burglary at the Dresden district court on Friday in his questioning by the public prosecutor’s office. There were people in the background who offered to take care of the recycling.
The crime plan was already in place when he was approached by a 24-year-old co-defendant and asked if he wanted to take part. He was inaugurated by this and two unaccused accomplices. “It was actually about the things that were then stolen.” When asked whether the plan called for firearms or other weapons, he said no. No further thought was given to the risk, a defender explained. “It was supposed to be a lightning burglary. In-out.”
dispute over damages
At the beginning of the day of the trial, the defense requested that the trial not decide on the damages. One of the lawyers criticized the claim sums mentioned in the Free State’s application for adhesion. He argued that the theft was facilitated by the fact that the display cases were not adequately secured for items of considerable value. These have not been restored to their original condition, but have been completely renewed and upgraded. However, only repair costs should be claimed in order to restore the original condition.
In addition, the sum called for damage to the museum of almost 316,000 euros is denied, as is the damage related to the stolen pieces of jewellery. The stated value of the returned objects of just under 43 million euros, the damage of almost 25.6 million euros and the missing jewelry of over 51.3 million euros are not proven, said the defender. Since insurance values are also not objective, the court can only base an estimate on speculation.
The art theft from Saxony’s Treasury Museum on November 25, 2019 is considered one of the most spectacular in Germany. According to the indictment, the perpetrators stole 21 pieces of jewelry made of diamonds and brilliants with a total value of over 113 million euros and caused damage of more than one million euros. For a year now, six young men between the ages of 23 and 29 have had to answer for this.
Five defendants admitted in January that they were involved in the coup or the preparation. Another accused denies being a perpetrator with reference to an alibi. After preliminary discussions in the course of the subsequent agreement between the defense, public prosecutor’s office and court, a large part of the loot was returned to the State Art Collections shortly before Christmas 2022, some of it damaged.