A Bavarian court sent a fifty-three-year-old Czech man to prison for two and a half years for stealing the pectoral of former Pope Benedict XVI. The daily Berchtesgadener Anzeiger reported on Tuesday, according to which the pectoral jewel in the form of a cross on a chain may soon return to the church in Traunstein, Bavaria.
The gilded cross decorated with jewels was stolen by the Czech from the church on June 19 last year. He also picked up a money box with change for church magazines. According to the prosecutor’s office, during the break-in, he caused damage to property worth more than two thousand euros (50 thousand crowns). The material value of the pectoral is estimated at around one thousand euros (25 thousand crowns), but its historical price is significantly higher. The defense in this case mentioned the amount of at least 50 thousand euros (1.25 million crowns).
Czech testified before the court that he did not know the value and meaning of the pectoral, which was only protected by Plexiglas. The dealer offered him only 18 euros (450 crowns) for it, because he considered it a fake. But Cech refused to sell it to him for such an amount. The convict learned about the real value later from the media.
About the pectoral, which has not yet been found, Čech claims that he hid it with an acquaintance. “He still has to have it. He is ready to call him,” Berchtesgadener Anzeiger quoted Cech’s lawyer Michael Vogel as saying. He noted that his client had not been in contact with his acquaintance during the last ten months he spent in custody.
The man, who was already known to the German police because of previous crimes, turned himself in to the Czech police last August, who arrested him and handed him over to the Federal Republic. Czech’s past was also mentioned by the jury, according to which the man led a very negative life, as he committed criminal acts all over Europe.
Tags: Czech prison stealing Pope Benedict XVIs pectoral jewel
