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THIS JUST IN
Trial delayed over theft of Munch masterpieces

Oslo -- The trial of six suspects in the heist of Edvard Munch's still-missing masterpieces The Scream and Madonna was adjourned yesterday shortly after opening.

Defence lawyers obtained a day and a half of extra time to examine evidence, concerning telephone taps, which they claimed had been produced too late by the prosecution. The trial will resume tomorrow, three presiding judges ruled.

Five of the defendants are charged with aggravated robbery with links to organized crime and face up to 17 years behind bars if found guilty. The defendants, all in their 30s, one by one pleaded innocent as the trial got under way.

On August 22, 2004, two armed and hooded thieves burst into the Oslo Munch Museum and threatened a member of staff with a gun while stunned tourists looked on.

After ripping Munch's existential masterpiece The Scream and Madonna from the walls, the robbers fled the scene in a stolen car driven by an accomplice. AFP

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