Paris — There was intense security and crowd control measures in place Tuesday at the central Paris courthouse where Kim Kardashian was set to give evidence in the trial over the 2016 armed robbery in which a masked gang made off with $10 million worth of her jewelry as she visited the French capital. The court opened early to allow journalists and members of the public access ahead of Kardashian’s afternoon appearance.
Some 400 reporters applied to attend the trial, but there were only 40 places allocated for media inside the courtroom. A side room was set up for 200 more journalists to watch a live transmission from inside the courtroom. The hearing will not be broadcast publicly, as France rarely allows cameras in courtrooms.
Kardashian’s lawyers said she was determined to testify in person about the night she was allegedly tied up and robbed at gunpoint while she was in Paris for Fashion Week. Ten people — nine men and a woman — face charges including robbery and kidnapping against the American media personality and the concierge of the residence where she was staying on the night of Oct. 2, 2016.
Marc Piasecki/Getty
Before the celebrity took the stand herself, her longtime friend-turned-stylist Simone Harouche told the court on Tuesday that she heard Kardashian begging for her life during the attack in the hotel suite they were sharing.
“‘I have babies and I need to live!’ That is what she kept on saying, ‘Take everything. I need to live,'” Harouche told the court. “I was scared that she was raped or violated. I thought the worst.”
Prosecutors have told the court that that when the gang, dressed as police officers, arrived at the luxury suites hotel known only as “The No Address” where Kardashian was staying, they demanded that the concierge, at gunpoint, guide them to “the rapper’s wife,” a reference to her then husband Kanye West. The couple settled for divorce in 2022.
Kardashian said that once they got inside the apartment, the masked thieves pointed a gun at her, then bound her wrists and ankles with zip ties and duct tape, all the time demanding in thick French accents: “Ring, ring,” apparently referring to the $4 million diamond ring given to her by West.
In interviews and on her family’s reality TV show, Kardashian has described being terrified during the intrusion, thinking she was going to be raped and killed.
“They dragged me out to the hallway on top of the stairs, that’s when I saw the gun, like clear as day,” she said on her show “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” adding: “It makes me so upset thinking about it.”
The robbers, some of whom escaped on bicycles, have been dubbed “the Grandpa robbers” as most of the suspects were in their 60s at the time of the heist.
As they fled, they dropped a diamond and platinum cross that was found the next morning by a local resident. The rest of the haul has not been recovered.
The DNA of two of the accused was found at the scene, and they have admitted taking part in the robbery. Aomar Ait Khedache, now 69, is accused of masterminding the heist. Known as “Old Omar,” he reportedly told investigators he had no idea who Kardashian was, but had heard from a waiter friend about the amazing jewelry she wore when she was out dining in Paris.
Pierre Suu/Getty 
Khedache reportedly wrote to Kardashian in 2017, while he was in custody, to apologize. Her lawyers said he wrote after he heard her speak of how traumatic the experience had been. He has not apologized in court.
Yunis Abbas, 71, has admitted that he acted as a lookout for the gang. In court on April 29, he expressed “total regret” for his part in the heist. He said he understood afterward that, “when you steal a lady’s purse, it can be traumatic” for her.
A police officer who testified for the prosecution told the court Kardashian appeared “traumatized” in the immediate aftermath of the robbery.
Lawyers for some of the accused expressed concern as the trial opened last month that Kardashian’s fame would distract from the essentials of the case.
Chloe Arnoux, who represents Khedache, told reporters: “He is, in fact, rather worried about seeing all you, journalists, because he is afraid that his case will not be treated the same way it would be if there were not such a famous person involved in it.”
Kardashian’s lawyer Michael Rhodes said in April that the reality TV star and entrepreneur had ”tremendous appreciation and admiration for the French judicial system,” and ”wishes for the trial to proceed in an orderly fashion in accordance with French law and with respect for all parties to the case.”