Kim Kardashian to testify Tuesday in Paris trial over 2016 jewelry heist
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(LONDON) — Reality TV star and entrepreneur Kim Kardashian is expected on Tuesday to take the stand in a Paris courtroom, where a trial is underway for 10 people accused in connection with the violent robbery of millions of dollars’ worth of her jewelry.
Kardashian is expected to testify midafternoon to give her version of the events, which allegedly saw her tied up and held at gunpoint in a luxury hotel suite during Paris fashion week in 2016.
Nine men and one woman are accused in connection with the robbery, during which five masked men posing as police officers allegedly stormed into Kardashian’s hotel suite.
The suspects allegedly made off with valuables worth at least $6 million, including a diamond engagement ring given to Kardashian by her then-husband Kanye West. That ring alone was said to be worth about $4 million.
The trial, which began last month, has been a spectacle in the French media, where the defendants are collectively referred to as the “grandpa robbers” — or “papys braqueurs” — because many of them are over 60.
The defendants are charged with several counts, the main one for most of them being armed robbery in an organized gang. Some are also charged with kidnapping.
There were initially 12 defendants in this case, one of whom has since died. Another person cannot be tried due to their medical condition, according to French authorities.
Kardashian “has tremendous appreciation and admiration for the French judicial system and has been treated with great respect by the French authorities,” Michael Rhodes, an American lawyer representing the influencer, said in a statement prior to the trial.
Rhodes added, “She wishes for the trial to proceed in an orderly fashion in accordance with French law and with respect for all parties to the case.”
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti, Will Gretsky, Hugo Leenhardt and Aicha El-Hammar Castano contributed to this report.
(LONDON and PRETORIA) — An American missionary who was allegedly kidnapped at gunpoint during a church service in South Africa last Thursday evening was rescued in “a high-intensity shootout” several days later, South African police said Wednesday.
Three unidentified suspects were killed during Tuesday’s operation, which was led by the South African Police Service’s elite Hawks unit, according to a statement from spokesman Lt. Col. Avele Fumba.
Investigators discovered that the abducted U.S. citizen, believed to be a pastor at a church in the South African port city of Gqeberha, was being held at a safe house there, Fumba said. As officers approached the house on Tuesday, suspects inside a vehicle opened fire on law enforcement and attempted to flee the scene, Fumba said, “leading to a high-intensity shootout in which three unidentified suspects were fatally wounded.”
“The victim was found inside the same vehicle from which the suspects had launched their attack,” Fumba added. “Miraculously unharmed, he was immediately assessed by medical personnel and is currently in an excellent condition.”
Police have not yet identified the rescued American by name. The investigation remains ongoing, according to Fumba.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — The Venezuelan 2-year-old who was kept in U.S. government custody after her parents were deported has been returned to Venezuela.
In a video posted to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s YouTube page, Maduro is seen greeting the toddler upon the toddler’s return.
The toddler, Maikelys Antonella Espinoza, is seen in the video being carried by Venezuelan first lady Cilia Flores before being handed over to the toddler’s mother, Yorley Inciarte, who had been deported two weeks ago from the United States.
Espinoza’s return comes after Maduro and other Venezuelan government officials accused the Trump administration of kidnapping the 2-year old.
Last month, the Department of Homeland Security labeled Inciarte and her partner Maiker Espinoza Escalona as “Tren de Aragua parents,” alleging the two are members of the Venezuelan criminal gang.
Escalona was sent to the CECOT mega-prison in El Salvador on March 30 under Title 8 authorities. Inciarte was deported two weeks ago to Venezuela without her daughter.
“The child’s father, Maiker Espinoza-Escalona is a lieutenant of Tren De Aragua who oversees homicides, drug sales, kidnappings, extortion, sex trafficking and operates a torture house,” DHS said in a statement. “The child’s mother, Yorely Escarleth Bernal Inciarte oversees recruitment of young women for drug smuggling and prostitution.”
“Everything is false,” Inciarte told ABC News in an interview last week. “Here I am waiting for the evidence they have because if they are accusing me, it’s because they have proof of what they are saying — but here I am waiting.”
“When my partner and my daughter arrive here, the only thing I think about is staying here in my country, because the only one who supported me and fought alongside me was my country, no one else,” Inciarte said. “And I will never, ever abandon my homeland. I won’t even mention the United States, it will never come up. Because what I experienced in that country was so horrible, I don’t even want to talk about how bad it is.”
(HUNGARY) — Hungary announced it will withdraw from the International Criminal Court, the world’s first and only permanent tribunal for war crimes and genocide, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Budapest for a four-day visit.
The ICC issued an arrest warrant last November for Netanyahu and former Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes in Gaza.
At the time, the ICC said there were “reasonable grounds” to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant committed war crimes in Gaza, and added that Israel’s acceptance of the court’s jurisdiction is not required. Israel is not a member of the ICC.
As a member of the ICC, Hungary would be obligated to arrest Netanyahu when he visited.
Netanyahu was accused of being responsible for the war crimes of starvation as a method of warfare, of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution and other inhumane acts from at least Oct. 8, 2023, until at least May 20, 2024, according to the ICC.
Netanyahu has rejected the ICC’s arrest warrant and said the actions and charges are “absurd and false.” Gallant also rejected the warrant and said it was an “attempt to deny the State of Israel the right to defend herself.”
Hungary will initiate its withdrawal from the ICC on Thursday, Gergely Gulyás, the Hungarian prime minister’s chief of staff, said in a post on Facebook.
“I am convinced that this otherwise important international judicial forum has been degraded into a political tool, with which we cannot and do not want to engage,” Orbán said Thursday at a press conference after welcoming Netanyahu, according to The Associated Press.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban first extended an invitation to Netanyahu in November after the ICC issued its arrest warrant, according to The Associated Press. The divisive Orban has been the leader of Hungary since 2010, and previously served in the same role from 1998 to 2002. The conservative nationalist leader has close ties to Russia and has been celebrated by Donald Trump.
Hungary joined the ICC in November 2001 during Orban’s first term as prime minister.
The 125 states that recognize the ICC — including France, Germany and the United Kingdom — are obliged to arrest anyone with an outstanding arrest warrant who enters their territory.
The Presidency of the of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute, which leads the ICC and is currently composed of the president, Finland’s Päivi Kaukoranta, and vice presidents, Poland’s Margareta Kassangana and Sierra Leon’s Michael Kanu, said it “expresses concern” at Hungary’s decision to remove itself from the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the ICC.
“When a State Party withdraws from the Rome Statute, it clouds our shared quest for justice and weakens our resolve to fight impunity,” the presidency said in a statement. “The ICC is at the centre of the global commitment to accountability, and in order to maintain its strength, it is imperative that the international community support it without reservation. Justice requires our unity.”
The White House also rejected the court’s decision to issue warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant. Since taking office, Trump has issued sanctions against the ICC claiming the court has “engaged in illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel.”
The ICC granted membership to the state of Palestine in 2015, giving the court territorial jurisdiction over crimes committed in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. A pretrial chamber affirmed the ratification in 2021.
The ratification laid the groundwork for the arrest warrant issued by the court against Netanyahu and Gallant in November 2024.
At the same time, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif, though the mastermind of Hamas’ Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel was believed to have been killed in an Israeli airstrike several months before the warrant was issued. Hamas confirmed in January that Deif had been killed last August.
