Kim Kardashian returns to court over Infamous 2016 case

Kim Kardashian will testify in a 2016 Paris burglary case in which she was held up at gunpoint and had millions of dollars’ worth of jewelry stolen.

In the afternoon, the 44-year-old reality TV actress and businesswoman will testify about the burglary, which left her tied up and held at gunpoint in a luxurious room during Paris Fashion Week.

Jewels worth millions of dollars were taken from her, including a $4m (£2.9m) diamond engagement ring from then-husband Kanye West.

Ten people are on trial, which began last month.

Witness Abderrahmane Ouatiki, the night receptionist who claims he was led to Kardashian’s hotel suite and forced to interpret the demands of the burglars, claimed on Monday that the American celebrity was “in a state of complete terror” and “completely hysterical” as a “very nervous” man brandished a gun at her.

“He was very aggressive, and she was utterly terrified,” Ouatiki added.

He continued by saying that he had been worried about his life because the burglar was acting strangely and was obviously annoyed by Kardashian’s yelling.

According to reports, two more men coerced Ouatiki into taking them to Kardashian’s suite, where they demanded that she give him the ring and stole additional diamonds worth a total of $9 million, while three people stood guard at the reception of the upscale Hotel de Pourtalès in central Paris.

Three months later, authorities took into custody the men and several other individuals suspected of being accomplices to the crime.

Although one passed away in March and another was excused for health reasons, twelve were ultimately scheduled to appear in court. All but two of the other ten deny any role in the break-in. The police believe they broke up and sold the gems, but they never located them.

The French media has referred to the accused as “grandpa robbers” due to several of them being in their seventies. Many also suffer from severe health issues. One exhibited obvious tremors, and the other is receiving chemotherapy.

During last week’s interrogation, the alleged ringleader, Aomar Ait Khedache, 68, who is deaf and dumb, was required to write down his responses using a pen and paper that were displayed on a screen.

Prosecutors have attempted to dispel the myth of careless elderly robbers who were unaware that their victim was a well-known celebrity ever since the trial began on April 28.

“They may have made mistakes, but they were still a decent team,” the Brigade de Répression du Banditisme (Banditry Repression Brigade) special unit’s senior investigator stated last week.

He pointed out that the robbers utilized burner phones, parked a car close to the crime site, taped Kardashian’s mouth, and bound her ankles and feet with cable ties.

He remarked, “That was well done.” “They pulled it off because they managed to flog the goods and palm off a $4 million ring in Antwerp, which isn’t that easy,” he stated.

Ouatiki reportedly described a terrifying image of one of the robbers in his testimony, claiming that he was brandishing a gun and was “stressed and shouting. You believe that person has the potential to be really dangerous.

Serving as a mediator between the man and Kim Kardashian, Ouatiki claimed to have done all in his power to “calm things down, as I didn’t know what he was capable of.”

Kardashian was just wearing a bathrobe when the robbers bound her and carried her to the restroom, and the belt came loose, the court heard. Léonore Hennerick, Kardashian’s attorney, asked Ouatiki to explain the incident, but she refused to elaborate. “You have to respect the victim, I think,” he stated.

In a tearful interview with American journalist David Letterman in 2020, Kardashian recalled that incident and said she believed she was about to be sexually abused.

“I was like, ‘Okay, this is the time I’m going to get raped,'” she recalled.

“I’m going to be dead in the room, and she’s going to be traumatized for the rest of her life,” she continued, adding that she was afraid for her life and worried about her sister Kourtney, who was out at a party.

Rather, the robbers took her ring, along with many other gems, her phone, and €1,000 in cash, and fled. Kardashian’s security showed up there immediately after she managed to free herself. She quickly traveled back to the United States after making a statement to authorities in the early hours of October 3.

Ouatiki, an Algerian national pursuing a PhD in semiotics at the time, claimed that media rumors suggesting he might have been involved in the crime caused him significant suffering.

“The suspicion was very heavy to bear,” he made clear to the court.

Ouatiki informed French media that soon after the crime, he was forced to return to Algeria and was diagnosed with PTSD after losing his student status.

He said, “It was a catastrophe; my life fell apart,” to Le Point.

Simone Bretter, Kardashian’s stylist and pal, will testify on Tuesday morning. Although she was on a different floor and hid when she realized the burglars had broken in, she was staying in the same suite during the heist.

Kim Kardashian’s testimony is expected to garner significant media interest, and over 500 journalists have been accredited.

“Testifying will allow her to reclaim agency in this situation and rewrite the ending,” stated Jeetendr Sehdev, author of The Kim Kardashian Principle and a celebrity expert.

“In 2016, she was ridiculed,” but testifying in 2025 will transform her into a storyteller.