Trial to open next month in spectacular German jewelry theft

BERLIN – Six men will go on trial in Germany next month over their alleged role in the spectacular theft of 18th-century jewels from a Dresden museum in 2019, a court said Wednesday.

Prosecutors say that the men are responsible for the break-in at the eastern city’s Green Vault Museum on Nov. 25, 2019, and the theft of 21 pieces of jewelry containing more than 4,300 diamonds, with a total insured value of at least $129 million.

They allegedly laid a fire just before the break-in to cut the power supply for street lights outside the museum, and also set fire to a car in a nearby garage before fleeing to Berlin.

Searches so far have not yielded the missing treasures.

Prosecutors said in September that the suspects, who are all in custody, had not responded to the accusations against them.