In the trial of the jewel theft in the Green Vault, the tone between the defense and the public prosecutor's office intensified.

"We have the impression that your interest in the understanding ceased the moment you had what you wanted," said the defense attorney for the oldest accused on Friday in the Dresden district court.

Stephen Locke

Correspondent for Saxony and Thuringia based in Dresden.

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Previously, the question was in what form the accused, six men between the ages of 23 and 29, who all belong to the partly criminal Remmo clan, will answer questions about their confessions.

The defense insists that judges and prosecutors ask written questions and that the accused then have until the next day of the trial to answer them in writing.

Defense attorneys worry about prearranged confessions

The presiding judge Andreas Ziegel proposed on Friday that each defendant should receive verbal questions, but sorted and portioned according to subject areas, and that the defendants would then be given time for answers, which they would have to provide orally on the same day of the trial.

The defense attorneys rejected this, with reference to the understanding, which admittedly allowed inquiries, but “in no way fixed” the manner in which the inquiries were to be made.

They are obviously concerned that the agreed-upon confessions of four of the defendants are not shattered by a ping-pong of questions and answers in the courtroom.

The judge, in turn, stated that the chamber had to examine the credibility of the confessions.

However, that does not work if the accused have days to make arrangements between questions and answers.

The deal between prosecutors and the defendants and the court provides that the defendants charged with joint theft and aggravated arson combined with aggravated assault will receive a minimum sentence of five years and nine months and a maximum of six years and nine months.

In return, they must make credible confessions with details of the planning, the course of the crime and the whereabouts of the loot, as well as return any jewelry they have.

The latter happened before Christmas, when investigators received 16 of the 21 stolen pieces of jewelry in the Berlin office of the oldest defendant's defense attorney.

However, some of the pieces are severely damaged, and the three most valuable pieces in the collection are missing.

Representatives of the Free State of Saxony, who filed an application for damages in court on Friday, estimated the remaining damage at almost 89 million euros.

The damage originally caused – based on the insured value – was just under 114 million euros.