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http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/news/zpravy/czech-court-imposes-five-years-on-pole-for-theft-of-rare-maps/393508 >
'Czech court imposes five years on Pole for theft of rare maps' (in the
Ceske Noviny, 19 August 2009).
'A Czech court today sentenced 47-year-old Pole Piotr Stanislaw Peron
to five years in prison for stealing 16th-century maps from the Scientific
Library in Olomouc, expelled him from the Czech Republic for eight years and
ordered him to pay 1.2 million crowns to the library. The verdict has not
taken effect as Peron appealed it immediately.
'In March Peron took the Apian World Map, originating in 1520, away
from the library, after cutting it out from an ancient book, Ioannis
Camertis Minoritani. Then he attempted to steal a map from 1599. The police
caught him red-handed. An expert estimated the value of the original
coloured Apian map at 1.2 million crowns [about $67,000]. The value of the
other map, depicting North Pole and America's northernmost parts, was
estimated at 600,000 crowns. Unlike the former map, the latter has been
returned to the library.
'Peron confessed to having stolen the latter map, but asserted that he
has never seen the former. Judge Marketa Langerova labelled his assertion
expedient. "When a library expert was giving his testimony, Peron came up
with thorough information about details in the map, before being stopped by
his defence lawyer. The five-year sentence was imposed in view of the danger
[such crime poses] to society, of the damage caused and because significant
pieces of cultural and historical heritage were involved," Langerova said.
'State attorney Petra Brncalova said Peron, with a permanent residence
in Canada, was probably a member of an organised group."He was interested in
history, maps and atlases. He knew how to handle books, he was an
experienced professional," Brncalova said. Experts say similar maps can sell
for an equivalent of up to 6 million crowns on the U.S. market, while the
prices are slightly lower in Europe. In the past, Peron was prosecuted for
frauds in Poland. In March he was not allowed to leave Poland and was bound
to regularly report to the local police.'
Tony Campbell
[email protected]
** extract from: 'Theft News'
http://www.maphistory.info/theftnews.html
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