PARIS (Reuters) – Reality TV star Kim Kardashian is set to testify on Tuesday afternoon at the trial of a gang accused of robbing her at gunpoint in her Paris hotel room in 2016 and stealing jewellery worth millions of dollars.
The suspects are accused of tying up the billionaire celebrity with zip ties and duct tape before making off with jewels, including a $4 million engagement ring given to her by her then-husband rapper Kanye West (now known as Ye), according to investigators.
Early on Tuesday, hours before Kardashian’s testimony, dozens of journalists queued up to get into the tribunal.
Kardashian told David Letterman about the heist in a 2020 interview, fighting back tears as she recalled her fears of being raped that night.
“They kept on saying ‘the ring, the ring’,” Kardashian said.
“I kept looking at the concierge,” she continued, referring to the concierge of the exclusive hotel who had been forced at gunpoint to lead the gang to her apartment.
“I was like, ‘Are we gonna die? Just tell them I have children, I have babies … I have to get home’.”
Yunice Abbas, 71, who is among the 10 suspects standing trial, many in their late 60s or 70s and dubbed “the grandpa gang,” has told French media that he and others who took part in the robbery did not know who Kardashian was.
“It’s not her, it’s her diamond we targeted,” Abbas told C8 TV a few years ago. Abbas has admitted his participation in the robbery – writing a book about his role. In interviews with French media, he said he was sorry for what he did and wanted to apologise to Kardashian. There is no possibility of a guilty plea in such cases and Abbas is standing trial despite admitting to playing a role in the robbery.
Frank Berton, a lawyer representing 68-year-old Aomar Ait Khedache, nicknamed “Omar the Old,” said last month he hoped the fact that Kardashian is a global star won’t affect the trial. Khedache is accused of being the gang’s ringleader, which he denies.
“This trial attracts international attention because of who the plaintiff, the victim, is,” Berton said.
“What we hope is that it won’t change anything in the way the facts are judged,” he said.
(Writing by Ingrid Melander, reporting by Juliette Jabkhiro; Editing by Michael Perry)
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