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Supreme Court hears appeal against Munch theft sentences
Jan 3, 2008, 15:45 GMT
Oslo - The Norwegian Supreme Court on Thursday heard appeals by three men sentenced for their part in the 2004 armed robbery of two paintings by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch.
The men were sentenced in April 2007 to between five and nine years in jail for planning or taking part in the theft.
Defence lawyers had challenged the sentences, citing that one of three men cleared in the appeal court trial had been offered a book contract along with the main police witness, Norwegian news agency NTB said.
The contract was not known at the time of the trial and the book has been put on hold.
Lawyer Morten Furuholmen, representing alleged ringleader Bjorn Hoen who was sentenced to nine years, said that information about the book deal would have allowed a different line of questioning when he cross-examined the main police witness and a 40-year-old man cleared in the appeal court trial, NTB said.
Prosecutor Lasse Qvigstad said he did not see grounds for overturning the convictions.
No date was set for the Supreme Court decision on a possible retrial.
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.
Details of how police recovered the two masterpieces from an Oslo warehouse in August 2006 have remained sealed.
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.
© 2008 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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