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“Prosecutors [from the Directorate for the Investigation of Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT)] missed recovering the masterpieces stolen in the Netherlands,” writes Jurnalul Naţional
The daily is highly critical of the DIICOT’s investigation, which prioritised the drive to catch the criminals — who were charged on July 15, 2013 — instead of the search to find the seven paintings, which were stolen from Rotterdam’s Kunsthal museum in October 2012. They include works by Matisse, Picasso, Monet, Gauguin, Meyer de Haan and Lucian Freud with a total art-market value estimated to be in the region of €200m, points out the daily.
On March 8, the mother of one of the thieves burned the paintings, in an effort to destroy evidence of the crime allegedly committed by her son, who is currently in custody along with his accomplices. For the Romanian daily her initiative has brought about —
… the greatest loss of art and world heritage caused by a deliberate act. No irreparable action of this kind has occurred since World War II.
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