A Norwegian court today ordered two men to pay over €96 million in damages in addition to jail sentences of seven and eight years over the 2004 theft of Edvard Munch's masterpieces The Screamand Madonna.
Edvard Munch's Madonna which was stolen in Oslo in 2004 and not been recovered despite today's convictions. Photo: Reuters
The Oslo court also convicted a third man for providing a car for the armed robbery but did not order him to pay damages. It acquitted three other men.
The two 1893 paintings have not been recovered despite the offer of a €250,000 reward.
Five of the men had been charged with planning or taking part in the daylight robbery, and the sixth had been accused of handling stolen goods. The six had pleaded not guilty in February.
The paintings were stolen when two gunmen walked into Oslo's Munch Museum on August 22nd, 2004, and pulled the two paintings off the walls in front of stunned tourists who were forced to lie on the ground. A third man drove a getaway car that was later found.
Presiding judge Arne Lyng sentenced Petter Tharaldsen to eight years in prison, Bjoern Hoen to seven years and Petter Rosenvinge to four years for their part in the robbery.
All three said they would lodge appeals.
The judge ordered Tharaldsen and Hoen to pay the City of Oslo €96 million in compensation for the paintings within two weeks. The court did not make a compensation order against Rosenvinge because it found that he did not know that The Screamand Madonnawere the targets of the theft.