Stiff sentences in Edvard Munch theft trial

Apr 23, 2007, 10:15 GMT

Oslo - Three men were sentenced Monday to between five and nine years in jail for their part in the 2004 armed robbery of two valuable paintings by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch.

An appeal court in Oslo also ordered the three to pay 1.6 million kroner (264,000 dollars) in damages for the restoration of the works.

The prosecution had demanded sentences of up to 12 years, citing the great value of the paintings considered to be part of the national heritage.

The paintings - The Scream and The Madonna - suffered puncture holes and damage due to moisture since the protective glass was smashed in the August 2004 theft, Munch Museum Director Lise Mjos told the court in the closing stages of the trial.

Mjos said that an eye surgeon will be involved in efforts to restore the two masterpieces and would remove tiny glass splinters from the paintings in order 'to prevent greater damage at a later stage.'

Details of how police recovered the two masterpieces from an Oslo warehouse in August 2006 remained sealed despite appeals from the defence.

The appeal trial hearing opened February 20 against five men but a 10-member jury cleared two of them at the end of March.

The three sentenced Monday were Petter Tharaldsen, the alleged driver of the stolen getaway car who received a jail term of nine- and-half years. He was also sentenced for another robbery.

Alleged ringleader Bjorn Hoen received nine years while one of the two armed men that was in the museum building, Stian Skjold, was sentenced to five-and-a-half years. Skjold's alleged accomplice died before the trial began.

All three men said they wanted to consider if they would appeal.

'It was a stiff sentence,' attorney Johnny Veum told the online edition of Aftenposten.

The prosecution said they would also consider the rulings.

Munch, who lived from 1863 to 1944, is considered one of Europe's most important expressionist artists. He made several versions of the two recovered works.