Art Robbers Appeals Decision

An appeals court in Norway has convicted three men and acquitted three others of involvement in the 2004 art theft of the Edvard Munch masterpieces The Scream and Madonna, reports the New York Times' Peter Edidin. Two of the rulings by an appellate jury reversed a lower court's decision. The paintings were recovered in August last year, about two years after they had been stolen by masked gunmen at Oslo's Munch Museum. Both paintings were damaged and are being repaired. In May, the Oslo district court convicted three men of helping the armed robbers; three others were acquitted. The appeals jury upheld the conviction of Petter Tharaldsen, thirty-four, and Bjoern Hoen, thirty-eight, for grand theft, and convicted Stian Skjold, thirty, of the same charge, reversing his acquittal in the district court. The jury upheld the acquittals of two other men and acquitted a third who had been found guilty by the lower court. The cases were heard by a jury after both the defense and the prosecution appealed the district court rulings. (For full source and article click the Headline). Irish Art