Kim Kardashian's robbers found guilty in Paris court – DW – 05/24/2025
Eight people have been convicted in connection with the 2016 robbery of Kim Kardashian. The robbers stole jewelry to the tune of $10 million in the heist, with the US celebrity fearing for her life.
A French court on Friday found the ringleader and seven others guilty in relation to the 2016 armed robbery of Kim Kardashian.
Seven of the convicted received prison sentences of between three and eight years, some of which were suspended, while another received a fine. Two other defendants were acquitted.
Chief Judge David De Pas said the court considered the defendants' ages and health when deciding on their sentences. Six of the defendants are now in their 60s and 70s. The judges described the sentences as "not very severe."
In October 2016, robbers wearing ski masks and disguised as police tied up the US celebrity in her Paris hotel room, before making off with the ring given to her by her then-husband, rapper Kanye West, and other jewels, with a total value of $10 million (€8.8 million).
'The most terrifying experience of my life,' says Kardashian
Kardashian traveled to Paris to testify earlier this month, telling the court she feared for her life during the ordeal.
Kim Kardashian testifies at Paris jewellery heist trial
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
The reality TV star said in a statement issued after Friday's verdict that she was "deeply grateful to the French authorities for pursuing justice in this case."
"The crime was the most terrifying experience of my life, leaving a lasting impact on me and my family. While I'll never forget what happened, I believe in the power of growth and accountability and pray for healing for all. I remain committed to advocating for justice, and promoting a fair legal system."
A different statement from her legal team said that "Kim appreciates the court's decision. It has been a long journey from that terrible night. She looks forward to putting this tragic episode behind her."
When she did appear in France's to testify earlier this month, Kardashian said she forgave the ringleader, Aomar Aït Khedache, who is now 69 years old and had asked for forgiveness via a letter.
The thieves were dubbed the "grandpa robbers" by the media, owing to their ages.
Edited by: Louis Oelofse
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
DW
3 days ago
- DW
Malta: Two convicted in 2017 murder of journalist – DW – 06/06/2025
A Maltese court convicted two men of supplying explosives used to assassinate an investigative journalist. Daphne Caruana Galizia, who reported on government corruption, was killed with a car bomb. A Maltese court pronounced Robert Agius (41) and Jamie Vella (42) guilty of complicity in the October 16, 2017, assassination of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia late Thursday. The two were convicted of supplying military-grade explosives to killers targeting Caruana Galizia with a car bomb. The 53-year-old journalist wrote extensively about government corruption and crooked business deals. Much of her investigative focus during the time leading up to her targeted killing was trained on the inner circle of then President Joseph Muscat. Her brazen killing shocked Europe and sparked protests on the Mediterranean island. Protesters rallied against Muscat over his perceived efforts to shield friends and allies in a later investigation into the murder. He eventually resigned from office in 2019. Though a 2021 public inquiry found no evidence of direct government involvement in Caruana Galizia's murder, it did attest to a "climate of impunity" within the administration toward those who may have wanted to do her harm. On Friday, the slain journalist's family said the verdict brings them "a step closer to justice." "Yet, eight years after Daphne's brutal assassination, the institutional failures that enabled her murder remain unaddressed and unreformed," the family added. Yorgen Fenech stands accused of putting together the Daphne Caruana Galizia assasination Image: AP Photo/picture alliance What else do we know about the trial into Caruana Galizia's murder? Agius and Vella are expected to be sentenced early next week, with prosecutors seeking life sentences for both men. They are the fifth individuals to be convicted thus far in connection with Caruana Galizia's assassination. Two men, brothers George and Alfred Degiorgio, are serving 40 year sentences for carrying out the murder. Vince Muscat was convicted along with the Degiorgios but given a 15-year reduced sentence and a pardon in another murder case for providing key witness testimony that led to the convictions of Agius and Vella. A sixth man, Maltese businessman Yorgen Fenech — who was among those with close ties to the Muscat government — currently awaits trial on charges that he masterminded the Caruana Galizia hit. Fenech was arrested in November 2019, attempting to flee the country on his yacht. He was granted bail in January 2025. No date has been set for his trial yet. Political crisis in Malta To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Edited by: Rana Taha
DW
3 days ago
- DW
India: Four arrested for deadly cricket stampede – DW – 06/06/2025
Four people, including an official from championship winning Royal Challengers Bengaluru cricket team, were arrested Friday after a victory celebration they organized turned deadly on Wednesday. Police in Bengaluru, India's tech capital, arrested four individuals early Friday for the roles in a deadly fan crush that occurred on Wednesday while the local cricket team Royal Challengers Bengaluru was celebrating its T20 Indian Premier League (IPL) championship victory. The team offered free tickets to a trophy celebration at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, saying the number of tickets would be limited. Officials say the stadium has a capacity of 35,000 people, "but 200,000-300,000 people came." In the end, 11 people were killed and 47 injured as fans without tickets attempted to push their way into the venue in what Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called an "absolutely heartrending" incident. State officials on Friday announced that "legal action has been taken against the representatives of the RCB" as well as the event organizers and the state cricket association. Local media have reported that the four face charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, among others. Officials suggested that senior police may also be subject to punishment for their roles as well. Wealthy Indian Premier League cricket cutting corners on fan safety? The T20 is the world's richest cricket league, with media widely reporting that RCB's T20 victory had secured it a $2.3 million (€2 million) match bonus. RCB has called the event "unfortunate" and offered $11,655 each to the families of victims, most of whom were men between the ages of 14-49. Indian Premier League ranks among the world's wealthiest in cost-per-match terms since selling a five-year global broadcast right package for $6.2 billion in 2022. This has led many in India to demand the league be more forthcoming about Wednesday's tragedy. The Indian Express newspaper this week wrote: "The world's richest cricket tournament can't cut corners when it comes to fans' safety. A fitting tribute to those dead, therefore, is not mere signing a cheque but holding those in charge responsible." Cricket fans in India crushed during celebration To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Edited by: Louis Oelofse
DW
5 days ago
- DW
Dutch populist leader Geert Wilders makes PM gamble – DW – 06/04/2025
Far-right firebrand Geert Wilders, with his shock of white-blond hair, has upped the ante on his political future by blowing up the governing coalition in the Netherlands. It's a high stakes move which could backfire. Dutch voters are set to head back to the polls for fresh elections before the end of the year, after the far-right PVV party withdrew from the coalition government over a migration policy bust up. It was Geert Wilders, the leader of the PVV, who rolled the dice and pulled his ministers from the four-party government, throwing the Netherlands into months of political uncertainty. His aim is clear: "I intend to become the next prime minister," he said. Outgoing Prime Minister Dick Schoof will lead a caretaker government in The Hague until a new vote is held, which experts believe will happen no sooner than October. Dick Schoof will remain as Dutch Prime Minsiter, but as a caretaker until elections are held Image: Peter Dejong/AP/picture alliance The consideration now is whether Wilders, one of Europe's longest-standing players in far-right politics, can plot a path to finally becoming the prime minister, or whether he's now a busted flush in the eyes of the Dutch electorate. "That's the million-dollar question," Armida van Rij, Senior Research Fellow at Chatham House's Europe Programme, told DW. With multi-party coalition governments being the norm in the Netherlands, there are two main aspects needed to succeed politically in the EU's fifth biggest economy: votes from the public and the ability to build alliances with other parties. Wilders 'orchestrated' a crisis around migration To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Responsibility shirker? Having first taken a seat in parliament in 1998, Wilders spent over a decade on the far-right fringes until surging support saw his party first prop up a coalition government led by Mark Rutte in 2010, before pulling out in 2012. He has a growing reputation as a politician who walks away when things get tough. "This all looks bad on Wilders," said Adriaan Schout, a Senior Research Fellow at the Netherlands-based think tank, Clingendael. "He supported the Rutte government, and he walked out back then in 2012 [over new austerity measures], and that's been that's always stuck to him. Doing it again now looks very bad in the eyes of the public." Geert Wilders, in 2010, stares at former Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte whose coalition government he would later bring down. Image: picture alliance/dpa Wilders' PVV party currently holds more seats (37/150) than any other party in the Dutch parliament after surprise success in the 2023 election. Polls indicate declining popularity since PVV joined the government but suggest that his party would still be the biggest in the parliament if elections were held now. "Voters may now actually reward Wilders, even if he pulled the plug, due to discontent over the lack of migration policy changes," said Pieter Cleppe, Editor-in-Chief of a right-leaning magazine covering EU politics. "Forming a government without Wilders will then only be possible by taking over at least part of his anti-immigration agenda," he told DW. But now, with the former coalition parties expressing their "fury" over this week's government collapse, if Wilders were to succeed in the upcoming elections, the other parties may well call his bluff and refuse to join a coalition with him, let alone allow him to lead as prime minister. Toughest Asylum Policies Ever The political battle over migration came to a head when Wilders went all-in and, at the end of May, proposed a '10-point plan' on asylum which would bring in some of the most draconian migration policies in Europe. It included military units stationed at national borders, a complete end to accommodation being provided for refugees, a temporarily halt on family reunions for asylum-seekers who have been granted refugee status and sending Syrian refugees back home despite any risk of persecution. Dutch coalition government collapses over migration dispute To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The refusal of the coalition partners to sign onto his plan immediately caused Wilders to pull his ministers from government. "The plan itself is deeply problematic because it violates a number of EU laws and international law provisions, namely, the right to asylum," said Davide Colombi, a researcher in the Justice and Home Affairs Unit at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS). "Migration and asylum are actually instrumentalized in European politics," continued Colombi in an interview with DW. "There seems to be a tendency to normalize unlawful policy proposals across the EU, not only in the Netherlands, as if migration and asylum were something outside of the law." Far-right Fragmentation Europe is now seeing a once-unified far-right starting to fragment, not along ideological fault lines, but under the constraints of the democracies they operate in. France's Marine le Pen is banned from running in the 2027 presidential election due to embezzling EU funds and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government agenda on migration has been hobbled by domestic courts. French far-right leader Marine le Pen leaves a Paris court during her 2025 trial for misuse of EU funds Image: Stéphane Geufroi/OUEST FRANCE/MAXPPP/IMAGO "In Sweden and Denmark, rightwing populists have been able to successfully affect policy, but the Netherlands does not have a tradition of minority governments," said Cleppe from the right-leaning magazine. "Wilders could have prepared better for government by attracting more mainstream figures into his political movement." The shuffling of the Dutch political deck begins again with the elections. The coming months will see political parties jostling for position and many will to try to edge Wilders out of the game. Wilders himself so far appears defiant and looks set to double down on selling his anti-immigration policies to the public, rather than hedging his bets and trying to build alliances with other political parties. Edited by: Matt Pearson
