A second trial involving the theft of jewels from the Green Vault treasury in Dresden was interrupted on Friday at the Dresden Regional Court before the indictment was read out. The presiding judge Eva Stief wants to inform about the progress next Wednesday.
Eight months after the end of the first trial, a 24-year-old has to answer for aiding and abetting theft with weapons, damaging property and arson. He is considered to be part of the Berlin Remmo clan and is a brother or cousin of the young men who have already been sentenced to several years in prison for the crime.
At the beginning of the trial, lawyer Stephan Schneider, defense attorney for the accused, questioned the regional court’s jurisdiction. He claims the case was heard at the Berlin regional court because the 24-year-old lives there. Schneider mentioned the extensive travel that a trial in Dresden would require. 56 of the 147 planned witnesses and experts come from the Berlin area. There is not a single witness from Dresden for the allegations concerning his client. He also criticized alleged formal errors in the summons. The room in which the hearing will take place was not specified. This prevented sufficient preparation.
The defendant was 19 years old at the time of the crime – therefore an adolescent within the meaning of the Youth Court Act. In this case, the public prosecutor’s office has the right to choose whether the charges are brought at the crime scene or at the place of residence, explained Andreas Feron. The court now had to consult and did not want to put itself under time pressure with the interruption. The written summons must be submitted one week before the start of the main summons. It is mandatory to specify the court and its address, but not the reference to the specific hearing room, said Feron. This could hardly be implemented in practice.
The break-in into the historic Green Vault in Dresden’s Residenzschloss is considered one of the most spectacular art thefts in Germany. In November 2019, the perpetrators stole 21 pieces of diamond and brilliant jewelry and also caused more than one million euros in damage. Some of the loot is still missing. Five young men from the Berlin Remmo clan were sentenced to prison sentences of between four years and four months and six years and three months. They went into appeal. The judgments are therefore not yet legally binding.
