Paris-a key accused in the trial of a group accused of stealing Kim Kardashian at a gunpoint in Paris in 2016 and stealing jewels for a value of $ 9 million, has said that he has come to regret the trauma that caused the star of reality turned into amazing Mogul in later years.
Yunice Abbas, perhaps the best known defendant in the trial, said that despite a criminal history of a year, this was the first time that he had really come to recognize the “trauma” he had caused to his victim.
“I regret, not because they caught me, but because … there was a trauma,” said Abbas, now 72, before a jury on Tuesday as procedures against the 10 people accused in relation to the 2016 theft resumed after its launch on Monday afternoon.
The first of several defendants who testified at the trial, Abbas had previously confessed his role in the robbery, detailing the robbery in his 2021 book, “I kidnapped Kim Kardashian.”
The subject of the book arose during the testimony, with Abbas saying that he was not responsible for the title and that he disputes his supposed role in the robbery. He added that he was not involved in binding Kardashian, who was staying in Paris for the city’s fashion week, but that he stayed down to watch.
Abbas and another nine, called “grandparents’ thieves” in the local media due to their ages, some of the defendants are in their 70s and 80s, it alleges that they played a variety of roles in the robbery, including Kardashian, 44, at the tip of weapons and being complicit in that crime.
During the interrogation, Abbas described his criminal past: a total of almost 20 years has passed in jail for several crimes, including the armed robbery of a bank in Belgium. The defendant said that when he was young he fiercely opposed the robbery, but he had resorted to a life of crime due to the bad influence of friends and monetary difficulties, hoping that it is an easier path.
Abbas said his family had suffered due to his crimes, adding that he “had never had a model to follow” and that he had done what he thought it was necessary to try to keep his children.
The defendant spoke quickly during his testimony, his arm trembling at all times, possibly due to the fact that he now suffers from Parkinson’s disease. In a moment, the tremor was violent enough for him to have one hand in the other.
In the years since the theft of 2016 pointing to Kardashian, Abbas said he was now “very restless” with what happened that day. But, he said, “I can’t do anything besides apologizing.”
Kardashian had stayed in a private apartment complex in the French capital when it is alleged that five of the defendants have entered the building and robbed it at a gun tip, taking items, including its commitment ring of then husband Ye, the rapper previously known as Kanye West. The other five defendants are accused of related crimes, including the planning and delivery of the whereabouts of Kardashian.
In the years elapsed since the alleged incident, one defendant died, while the case of another, 80, has been separated from the other defendants due to medical problems.
In addition to Abbas, standing trials will include Aomar Ait Khedache, 69, known as “Old Omar”, who is alleged that she has master the robbery; His son, Harminy, 37, accused of being the driver’s driver; Didier “Blue Eyes” Dubreucq, 69; And Kardashian’s brother in Paris, Gary Madar, 35, accused of bowing others in the whereabouts of Kardashian. Christiane Glotin, 78, is also among the defendants, and the authorities claim that she was complicit in the robbery.
At least four defendants were expected to be interrogated in the Court on Tuesday.
Kardashian is expected to appear before the court on May 13.
The star of reality and businesswoman have previously detailed their experience during theft, at a time destroying in an interview with David Letterman while describing how she was afraid to be sexually and possibly murdered during the attack.
“I thought, ‘Well, this is the time I’m going to be raped … just prepare,” he said in the interview, cleaning the tears, then describing how he feared that his sister, Kourtney Kardashian, will find her dead.
“I kept thinking about Kourtney,” he said. “She is going to be traumatized for the rest of her life if she sees me.”
Gabrielle Nolin reported from Paris and Chantal da Silva reported from London.
