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The Dresden district court (archive image): Trial against six members of the Rammo clan
Photo: Monika Skolimowska/ dpa
In the process of stealing jewels from the Green Vault in Dresden, a witness criticized the security guards.
They should not have prevented the perpetrators from escaping.
The security staff did not want to be recognized by the perpetrators and therefore went into hiding, a police officer said at the hearing at the Dresden district court: "They had not acted actively to stop them because they were afraid."
The 31-year-old police chief was the first at the crime scene on November 25, 2019, together with a colleague.
They initially wanted to get information about the getaway vehicle in order to catch the perpetrators.
A security guard shot a video of their departure, which unfortunately was too short.
It was not possible to determine in which direction the getaway vehicle was turning.
The car was only dimly visible on the video.
The third day of the trial began in the morning with the questioning of two witnesses who were on their way to work on the day of the burglary and passed by the scene.
A 35-year-old woman - security guard at the Semperoper - stated that she saw two men and a car with an open trunk at the scene of the crime.
The men spoke in a foreign language.
It assumed an Eastern European language.
Despite the darkness, she was able to see the open trunk because it was illuminated.
Charged with gang theft and arson
Another witness, an employee at the entrance to the Saxon state parliament, noticed, among other things, two men at the Schinkelwache opposite the Green Vault.
By this time, however, the jewel thieves are said to have left the crime scene.
It was scary for her because the entire street was in the dark due to a lack of lighting, she said.
That's why she panicked when she saw the two men.
But they would have turned away and gone in the opposite direction.
Six men between the ages of 23 and 28 are on trial in the case.
They come from a well-known Arab family in Berlin, the Rammo clan, and are accused of aggravated gang theft, arson and particularly aggravated arson.
They are said to have stolen 21 pieces of jewelery with a total of 4,300 diamonds and brilliants with a total value of more than 113 million euros from the treasury and also caused property damage of over one million euros in the course of the spectacular coup.
The men were caught in several raids in Berlin.
bbr/dpa