[MSN] Norway's Supreme Court hears appeals in Edvard Munch masterpieces raid case

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Norway's Supreme Court hears appeals in Edvard Munch masterpieces raid case


2008-01-03 16:23:38 -

OSLO, Norway (AP) - The Norwegian Supreme Court on Thursday began hearing
the appeal of three men convicted of stealing Edvard Munch's masterpieces
<The Scream> and <Madonna> in a brazen daylight raid on an Oslo museum.
Defense attorneys were challenging the length of sentences and demanding
retrials for the three who were jailed in April last year for between five
and 9.5 years for their role in the August 2004 burglary.
Police recovered the paintings two years after the raid but they were
scraped and punctured, with paint dislodged. They are currently being
restored by the Munch Museum in Oslo, from where they were stolen.
One of the men appealing was convicted of being the getaway driver. Another
was convicted of masterminding the raid, and the third of being a gunman in
the operation.
The three were presenting new evidence including that two key witnesses, one
a police informant, had been working together on a book about the raid
during earlier trials without informing the courts.
Defense attorney Morten Furuholmen said withholding the information
<deprived both the defense and the courts of the opportunity to question
their credibility.
If the court finds that any cooperation tainted testimony, it could order a
new trial. It was not clear when the appeal ruling would be released.
Munch's emotionally charged painting style became a major influence in the
birth of the 20th-century expressionist movement. Munch died in 1944 at the
age of 80.
On the Net
www.munch.museum.no