Six plead not guilty to theft of masterpieces
Five of the men Stian Skjold, Petter Tharaldsen, Bjoern Hoen, Petter Rosenvinge and Morten Hugo Johansen are charged with planning or taking part in the theft. The sixth, Thomas Nataas, is accused of handling stolen goods.
The artworks, painted in 1893, have never been recovered.
The men each replied "no" when Judge Arne Lyng asked them if they were guilty of the charges in Oslo's central court.
They face up to 17 years in jail if found guilty at the trial, which is likely to take up to six weeks. Judge Lyng and two other judges will decide on the case. There is no jury.
Two men wearing black ski masks, one waving a gun, burst into the Munch Museum on August 22, 2004, tore the two priceless artworks from the walls in front of dozens of tourists and drove off.
The Scream, showing a waif-like figure clutching its head under a swirling blood-red sky, has become a symbol of angst after a century scarred by horrors from the atom bomb to the Holocaust. Madonna shows a bare-breasted woman with long black hair.
Motives for the robbery are unclear but media have speculated that it was to distract investigators from a bank robbery in the western port of Stavanger in April 2004, when €8.4 million was stolen and a police officer shot dead.
The loss of the paintings has been embarrassing for Norway.
In 1994, another version of The Scream Munch painted two famous versions of his masterpiece was stolen for several months from Norway's National Gallery by thieves who broke a window and climbed in with a ladder.
The Munch Museum has since undergone a multi-million-euro security upgrade.
Public prosecutor Terje Nyboe said he would urge a reduction in sentences for the men should they be found guilty if any of the accused offered information about where the paintings were hidden.
Police believe the works are hidden somewhere in Norway.
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