The Japan Times - Kim Kardashian to testify in multi-million-dollar Paris robbery trial

Ten suspects have been on trial since late April over the armed robbery in 2016, which saw jewellery worth some $10 million stolen from the reality TV star and influencer.

The trial has attracted huge media attention, with close to 500 reporters accredited, and crowds flocked around the courthouse on Paris's historic Ile de la Cite early Tuesday with fans hoping for a glimpse of the celebrity.

Some 50 camera teams were setting up in the court hallway, while the few dozen seats reserved for reporters were attributed within minutes.

"We are fans of Kim and we want to support her," said Clement Treboutte, waiting for access with a group of friends. "Let justice be done."

Leo, another fan who gave only his first name, said the trial "is a great occasion to see Kim in the flesh, so we thought why not".

- 'Made mistakes' -

Kardashian, 44, is ready to "confront" her Paris attackers, her lawyers said last week.

She is due to take the stand at 2:00 pm (1200 GMT) and is expected to speak to the press afterwards.

On the night of October 2-3, 2016, Kardashian was robbed while staying at an exclusive, discreet hotel in central Paris.

She was threatened with a gun to the head and tied up with her mouth taped.

In the robbery, dubbed by the French press as the "heist of the century", the masked men walked away with millions of dollars' worth of jewels.

They included a diamond ring given to Kardashian by her then-husband, rapper Kanye West, and valued at 3.5 million euros ($3.9 million).

The theft was the most valuable to target a private individual in France in 20 years.

Those on trial are mainly men in their 60s and 70s with previous criminal records.

They have underworld nicknames like "Old Omar" and "Blue Eyes" that resemble those of old-school French bandits of 1960s and 1970s films noirs.

"They're quite a team," said investigator Michel Malecot.

"But they made some mistakes", he said, notably by leaving DNA that allowed investigators to identify them.

- 'Crying hysterically' -

Sixty-eight-year-old Aomar Ait Khedache, known as "Old Omar", has admitted to tying up Kardashian but denies being the mastermind behind the robbery.

Another suspect in the dock, 71-year-old Yunice Abbas, later wrote a book about the heist.

In it he describes how his bag became caught in the wheel of his escape vehicle, a bicycle, causing him to fall off and have to scramble to shove the loot back in the bag.

Investigators said a man called Gary Madar, the brother of Kardashian's driver in Paris, tipped the suspects off that Kardashian was "in French territory".

This allegation has been ridiculed by Madar's lawyer, who remarked that 350 million online followers were already aware of the star's whereabouts.

The night of the robbery could have gone very differently had Kardashian joined her sister Kourtney and gone clubbing, an idea she entertained before deciding to stay in the hotel, the court heard last week.

Her designated driver, Michael Madar -- whose company was billing the Kardashian/West couple up to 400,000 euros per year to provide security -- had been working non-stop for 21 hours and asked a colleague to replace him for the trip to the night club.

The replacement, Mohammed Q., and a Kardashian bodyguard, Pascal D., rushed back to the hotel after Kardashian tried to call them and then failed to pick up her phone when they called back.

"I saw that the lift was on the first floor, where Kim was staying," Pascal D. told the court.

When he found her, Kardashian "was in a terrible state. She was crying hysterically", he told the court.

"I asked what had happened, and she said she'd been robbed."

The US celebrity, sometimes described as being "famous for being famous", became well known in the early 2000s through TV reality shows, before launching fashion brands and appearing in a number of films.

She is among the world's most followed people on Instagram and X.

She has been named among the 100 most influential people by Time magazine, and among the most powerful women by Fortune magazine.

The trial is set to end on May 23.

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T.Kobayashi--JT