Judgment in Kim Kardashian Heist Trial is expected in Paris

There is a statement in the process of 10 people accused of robbing the American celebrity Kim Kardashian of millions of dollars of jewelry in Paris almost ten years ago.

Nine men and one woman are accused of performing or helping the armed burglary of £ 10 million (£ 7.55 million) of jewelry, including a diamond engagement ring, during the Paris Fashion Week in 2016.

Justice officers are looking for a 10 -year prison sentence for four of the men being accused of carrying out the robbery, and between eight and six years old for the five other men and women who are accused of being accessories for crime.

The defendants delivered their last statements to court and were fired on Friday morning, with an opinion that was expected later in the day.

Many of the defendants are now the elderly and unwell, so that French media called them the “grandfather -raids”.

But since the trial started on April 28, both public prosecutors and civilian parties have strongly reduced the idea that the alleged robbers were harmless, with Kardashian declaring the robbery – in which she was tied up and held under shot – had traumatized her.

Public Prosecutor General Anne-Dominique Merville said that the sentences should reflect the “serious” and the “violence” of the robbery.

She insisted on the jury not to be influenced by the age and health problems of the defendants who were – at the time of the robbery – “seasoned robbers”.

In the night between 3 and 4 October 2016, when Kardashian was in her room at the hotel De Pourtales in the center of Paris, a gang of five men gone their way to the building.

While three guard down, two forced receptionist Abderrahmane Ouatiki – now also a claimant in the business – to take them to Kardashian’s room and act as a translator because she demanded her jewelry handed over, including an engagement ring worth $ 4m. Then they fled.

The defendants were arrested by the police in January 2017, but the jewelry was never found.

DNA certificate for Aomar Ait Khedache, 69, and Yunice Abbas, 71, they placed on the scene of the crime, and the two admitted their involvement.

Khedache – who is now disabled, deaf and stupid – has denied that he was the leader. Although he admitted that he was one of the two that went into Kardashian’s room, pointed a gun to her and tied her up, he said he was never violent, “least of all with a woman.”

His lawyers forced the jury to keep his health status in mind and said there was no risk that he was the recidivism. “At his age, prison time means a life sentence,” said lawyer Frank Berton.

Abbas, who has Parkinson’s disease and recently underwent a heart surgery, the jury told on Friday morning that his actions regretted. “I’m sorry for what I could do,” he said.

Among the other defendants was a man who worked as a driver for the Kardashian family. He denies information about their movements to the robbers and another man who, according to the prosecutors, was the escape director.

Last week, during an emotional testimony of five hours delivered by an interpreter, Kim Kardashian shared her traumatic memories of that night.

She was composed, but sometimes had trouble fighting tears when she remembered when she feared that the robbers would attack her sexually.

“I wish to think that kind of fear on nobody could be killed or raped … I would not want to wish for my worst enemy,” said the 44-year-old, measuring the defendants and her eyes with a tissue dep.

Kardashian also said that under the jewelry of her a watch was that her deceased father had given her. “I can’t get that back, it wasn’t just jewelry … Someone took my memories away,” she said.

When the president of the court, David de Pas, reads a letter about apology written by Khedache, Kardashian said she forgot him. However, she said it couldn’t erase the trauma she had experienced.

Night receptionist Abderrahmane Ouatiki, the other plaintiff in the case, was present in court during the trial. Since the robbery, the Algerian former PhD student has experienced PTSD, left his studies and left France.

In his final arguments, his lawyer said that although it was “more difficult to be a victim if someone is anonymous and poor” and that “not everyone can afford to be surrounded by bodyguards to sleep better,” he believed that justice could finally restore balance. ”