Defendants ask forgiveness ahead of Kim Kardashian robbery verdict
Celebrity Kim Kardashian (centre) leaves with her mother Kris Jenner (right) the Assize Court after testifying in the trial on May 13. PHOTO: AFP
PARIS - Defendants accused of stealing US$10 million (S$13 million) in jewellery from reality TV star Kim Kardashian in Paris in 2016 asked for forgiveness on May 23 as the court prepared to deliver its verdict.
Nine men and one woman have been standing trial since April, with prosecutors seeking the toughest jail terms – 10 years – for the four men accused of carrying out the robbery.
Kardashian, then 35, was robbed while staying at an exclusive hotel in the French capital on the night of Oct 2-Oct 3, 2016.
She was threatened with a gun to the head and tied up, with her mouth taped.
Aomar Ait Khedache, 69, accused of being the ringleader, begged to be forgiven in his final statement ahead of sentencing.
Khedache is now virtually mute and completely deaf, and his statement was read out by his lawyer.
Known as 'Old Omar', Khedache has admitted to tying up Kardashian but denies being the robbery mastermind.
'I ask for forgiveness. I can't find the words. I am very sorry,' he wrote, asking for 'a thousand pardons' from his son Harminy, who allegedly drove him and two accomplices the night of the theft and is also on trial.
'All I have to offer you is regret. I am sorry. I take responsibility for what I have done,' said Yunice Abbas, another of the four men risking 10 years in prison.
Others took a different tack, using the opportunity to reassert their innocence.
'I never, ever took part in the jewellery theft,' said a lawyer, reading a statement on behalf of Didier Dubreucq, another of the four, before the verdict, expected in the late evening.
'Grandpa robbers'
Most of the stolen valuables were never recovered, including a diamond ring given to Kardashian by her then-husband, rapper Kanye West.
Defendant Aomar Ait Khedache (centre) and co-defendant Harminy Ait Khedache (right) at the Assize Court of Paris, on April 28.
PHOTO: AFP
The ring alone was valued at €3.5 million euros (S$5.1 million).
The robbery was the biggest against a private individual in France in 20 years.
Most of the accused are now in their 60s and 70s and have been dubbed the 'Grandpa robbers' by French media.
They have underworld nicknames like 'Old Omar' and 'Blue Eyes' that resemble those of old-school French bandits of 1960s and 1970s films noirs.
But making the sentencing demands earlier this week, the prosecutor urged the judges and jury to remember that Kardashian was targeted by a violent attack and not to be 'taken in' by the 'wrinkles' of the defendants.
The American star testified at the trial last week, wearing a diamond necklace valued at US$3 million, according to its New York-based creator Samer Halimeh.
Kardashian said she feared she would be raped and killed by the masked men who held her at gunpoint.
'I thought I was going to die,' said Kardashian, who is among the world's most followed people on Instagram and X.
The trial has attracted huge media attention and crowds have flocked around the court in Paris's historic Ile de la Cite area hoping for a glimpse of the celebrity.
'I forgive you'
During the trial, Kardashian told the court she forgave Khedache after hearing a letter of apology from him.
'I forgive you for what has taken place but it does not change the emotion, the feelings, the trauma and the way my life changed,' she told Khedache, adding that she believed in a 'second chance'.
None of the defendants are currently in detention and, even if convicted, their lawyers' main aim will be to prevent their elderly clients going back to prison.
Exceptionally, the presiding judge allowed them to all leave the courthouse before the verdict is delivered, saying they must be present from 5pm GMT even if the ruling is expected some time later.
Khedache's lawyer argued on May 22 that his client should not go back to jail: 'At that age, a prison sentence is life imprisonment.
'I'm asking you to rise to the occasion. And it's not just me asking you, Mrs Kardashian is asking you,' said Mr Frank Berton, pointing to her statement to the court.
Kardashian, sometimes described as 'famous for being famous', became well known in the early 2000s through TV reality shows, before launching fashion brands and appearing in films. AFP
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