Kim Kardashian has arrived at court docket to face a gaggle accused of robbing her at gunpoint practically a decade in the past.
Carrying a black skirt go well with, sun shades, and along with her hair pulled again right into a chignon, the US actuality star walked up the steps accompanied by her mom Kris and a big entourage.
The US actuality star greeted the choose with a tender “Hello,” thanking the French authorities for “allowing me to tell my truth”.
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Kim Kardashian waves as she arrives at court docket. Pic: AP
She started by telling the court docket of her love for Paris, calling it a “magical place,” earlier than turning into tearful when describing the theft, and speaking of her “confusion” when two males entered her room dressed as law enforcement officials, accompanied by the handcuffed concierge.
She advised the court docket: “I had fallen asleep naked with a robe on, I was flustered.”
Kardashian will face 10 defendants who it’s alleged pulled off probably the most audacious superstar heists in trendy French historical past within the early hours of three October 2016.
Forward of her in-person look, Kardashian’s legal professionals stated she was able to “confront” the defendants and supposed to take action “with dignity and courage”.
It is alleged that 5 masked males posing as law enforcement officials stormed the residence, with two coming into Kardashian’s room and robbing her at gunpoint.
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Kim Kardashian. Pic: Reuters
Police say the boys escaped on bicycles, with round $9m of jewelry, together with a $4m engagement ring from Kardashian’s then-husband Kanye West. Many of the jewelry was by no means recovered.
Earlier on Tuesday, in Paris’s central prison court docket, Kardashian’s stylist Simone Harouche described the second she was woken by the US star’s screams of terror and feared she had been “raped or violated”.
Ms Harouche, 45, who says she has labored for Kardashian for a few years and has been mates along with her since she was 12, advised the court docket she was woken by “a sound I had never heard from Kim… It was terror”.
Sleeping in a separate condo, on the following ground down from Kardashian’s, she went on: “What I heard specifically was [Kim saying], ‘I have babies and I need to live – that is what she kept saying… Take everything. I need to live'”.
She advised the choose: “When I realised something terrible was going on upstairs and I realised it was not friends [in Kim’s room], I started looking for my telephone and I started looking for something to help save mine and Kim’s life.”
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Simone Harouche pictured final 12 months. Pic: Virisa Yong/BFA.com/Shutterstock
She went on to lock herself in her rest room and conceal in her bathe, the place she referred to as Kardashian’s sister Kourtney and texted her safety guard, Pascal Duvier, telling them, “Something is very wrong… Kim is upstairs with men and we need help.”
She says minutes later, Kardashian “hopped” into her room, explaining: “To see my friend with her feet taped and a very light robe with nothing under, and all messed up and pulled, I thought she could have been raped or very violated.”
She stated she eliminated the tape from Kardashian’s toes, and her pal was “beside herself”, including, “I’ve never seen her like that before. She was screaming, ‘We need to get out, what do we do if they come back? We need to jump from the first floor, we need to get out'”.
Later, when questioned by the lawyer of one of many defendants on why she didn’t come out of the lavatory, she stated: “I’m the kind of person to hide, [Kardashian’s] the kind of person to take care of other people.”
‘Simply because a girl wears jewelry, does not make her a goal’
When requested by the choose whether or not she or Kardashian had believed on the time that carrying and sharing photos of such costly jewelry could be a threat, Ms Harouche says: “Just because a woman wears jewellery doesn’t make her a target. That’s like saying because a woman wears a short skirt she deserves to be raped”.
She went on to say: “I think that that moment changed [Kardashian’s] life forever… In terms of security, she doesn’t go alone to places anymore.”
Asking for ‘forgiveness’
On the finish of her time within the witness stand, the choose tried to play a video message from one of many defendants, Yunice Abbas.
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Kardashian on the Siran Presentation on the day of the theft. Pic: Matteo Prandoni/BFA/Shutterstock
Mr Abbas, who has admitted his half within the heist, printed a e-book in 2021, titled “I Kidnapped Kim Kardashian”. A court docket has since dominated he won’t profit financially from it.
A tech concern meant the message wouldn’t play, so as a substitute, the choose learn out the assertion from Mr Abbas, asking for “forgiveness” for his actions. When requested by the choose if she had a response to the apology, Ms Harouche answered, “No”.
The trial, which is being held in entrance of three judges and 6 jury members, is because of conclude on the finish of this week.
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