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At the Paris trial, Yunice Abbas expressed regret for his role in the 2016 Kim Kardashian robbery.
Abbas wrote a book about the heist, claiming he acted as a lookout and later fled on a bicycle.
Co-accused Didier Dubreucq denied involvement, emphasising his reformed character since past convictions for armed robberies.
At the Paris trial of 10 people accused of robbing Kim Kardashian at gunpoint in 2016, a defendant who wrote a book about the jewellery heist said he regretted participating, while one of his co-accused vehemently denied any involvement.
Yunice Abbas, 71, says he remained in a Paris hotel lobby on the lookout while two other suspects on the night of October 2-3, 2016, stormed into her room, tied her up and made away with around US$10 million ($16.9 million) worth of her jewels.
But Abbas has sought to capitalise on the crime by publishing his version of events in a 2021 book titled I Kidnapped Kim Kardashian.
A prosecutor held up a copy of the book in court, and the presiding judge asked the author why he had bragged about the theft.
Defendant Yunice Abbas arrives for the start of the trial for the 2016 robbery and kidnapping of US celebrity Kim Kardashian at the Assize Court of Paris. Photo / AFP
Sitting in the dock in a short-sleeved check shirt, Abbas shook his head vigorously from left to right.
“It makes me very uneasy,” said the short bald man, adding that he “totally regretted” taking part in the theft.
Abbas has said he arrived at the scene of the robbery on a bicycle then left by the same means, dropping a bag of loot as he fled.
He picked it up but missed a diamond necklace, the only item that police were able to retrieve from the holdup.
Abbas told the hearing that stealing from Kardashian was the one job “too many” that “opened his eyes” to his wrongdoing.
The defendant, who now has Parkinson’s disease, held his right hand over his left placed on his heart throughout the court session. He said it was to stop it from racing when he became anxious.
The presiding judge on Tuesday (local time) reviewed the accused’s criminal past.
He listed, among others, a conviction for fake number plates for carrying out robberies, another for equipping cars with secret compartments to hide cannabis, and a third for armed robbery in which Abbas held a gun.
Not a ‘thug’
One of his co-accused, Didier Dubreucq, similarly faced questions of his past convictions.
Arriving in the afternoon after receiving chemotherapy — having been diagnosed with cancer while in pretrial detention — Didier assured the court he was physically and mentally capable of speaking.
“Does it bother you if I say that back then you were a robber?” court president David De Pas asked, referring to Didier’s convictions of armed robberies decades ago for which he already served a 23-year sentence.
“I’m a good guy,” the 69-year-old said, rejecting suggestions that he was a “thug”.
Since becoming a father at the age of 50, Didier said he put an end to the “big mistakes” he committed in the past and denied being involved in robbing Kardashian.
Although in recent years he nicknamed her “Karda-bothersome, because unintentionally, she ruined my life”, Didier acknowledged with a piercing gaze that matched his alias “Blue Eyes”.
Earlier, Abbas explained his history, saying that he had “moments of weakness” when he needed money.
“I fell back on things that I thought were easy shortcuts but only ended up complicating my life,” he said.
Between past convictions, he worked as a car mechanic, working for others or re-opening a closed workshop.
Abbas, like all nine other defendants, is not in custody.
He said one of his neighbours had joked on Monday night, after he returned home from the first day of the trial, that the court had effectively already freed him.
His lawyer asked him if he would be prepared to be punished if found guilty.
“You’re never ready. But of course, there’ll be a price to pay,” he said.
Kardashian, 44, is due to testify on May 13 in a highly anticipated appearance.
Those on trial — nine men and a woman — are mainly men in their 60s and 70s with previous criminal records and underworld nicknames like “Old Omar” and “Blue Eyes”.
But the lawyer for one of the victims on Monday was eager to dispel the image of “kind old men” on trial for the robbery during Paris Fashion Week.
Henri de Beauregard, who represents the night receptionist forced to accompany the robbers to Kardashian’s room, said the public must not fall for the “myth of friendly, Robin Hood-style pensioners”.
