I thought I was going to die – I felt the gun on my back, weeping Kim Kardashian tells Paris raid trial
KIM Kardashian wept as she told a French courtroom that she thought she was about to die during a terrifying diamond heist before offering forgiveness to her robbers.
She was expected to speak outside the court after spending nearly five hours on the witness stand - but left without giving a statement or speaking to reporters.
The celebrity, 44, had $10 million worth of jewellery stolen by a gang of masked robbers while she was tied up and had a gun held to her back during Paris fashion week in 2016.
Nine years after the raid, Kim made an emotional appearance at the trial of 10 people who are accused of being involved in the traumatic burglary.
Supported in court by her mum, Kris Jenner, 69, she broke down as she described the moment she thought the men who had broken into her hotel room were about to rape and shoot her.
Speaking of her terror as she was thrown onto her hotel bed at gunpoint, naked under her hotel robe, she said: “The robe opens up and everything is exposed on my bottom half.
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“I was certain that was the moment he was going to rape me. He pulled me towards him and I said a prayer and tried to mentally prepare myself.”
She added: “I absolutely did think I was going to die.
“I was on the bed and then one of them had the gun up to me and at that point that’s when they were going to shoot me, that’s when I was certain that they would shoot me."
Kim’s friend and stylist Simone Harouche, 45, was in a downstairs bedroom during the ordeal and told the court she could hear Kim screaming in “terror”.
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She said: “I was afraid that she was raped or violated and I feared the worst.
“It was terror. What I heard specifically was ‘I have babies and I need to live’. That was what she kept saying. ‘Take everything, I need to live’.
It has taken almost 10 years for the 10 defendants to be brought to court, with Covid lockdowns and a backlog of terrorism cases in the French justice system blamed.
In an emotionally charged moment in the courtroom, Judge David Du Pas read out a letter from suspected ringleader Aomar Ait Khedache.
The letter read: “Madame, after seeing you in a French TV show and seeing your emotion and realising what psychological harm I did to you, that I decided to write to you.
“Not with the aim of getting forgiveness... I want to tell you human to human how I regret my actions and how I was touched to see you cry...
"I am sorry for the pain I caused you, your husband, you children and those who love you."
Kardashian broke down in tears while the letter was read out, and was handed a tissue by a member of her legal team, before telling career criminal Khedache that she forgives him.
She told the court: “I do appreciate the letter for sure. I do appreciate it. I forgive you for what had taken place.
"But it doesn’t change the emotion and the trauma and the way that my life had forever changed.
“But I do appreciate the letter, so thank you.”
In a handwritten note in response, Khedache - who is deaf and mute - wrote: "Your forgiveness is a sunshine that has enlightened me... I am forever grateful."
Another of the defendants, Yunice Abbas, also said he regretted his part in the terrifying raid.
Abbas has previously written a book about his involvement in the heist.
When asked if he wanted to say anything to Kardashian, Abbas stood up and said: "Hello. I recognise your trauma. I regret my part."
Kim also told the court how the terror raid left her fearful that she could not trust the cops, given her attackers had dressed up in police uniforms.
French media has dubbed the gang of criminals “Grandpa robbers” because many are in their 60s and 70s with ailing health.
One of the original suspects has died before the trial and another is too frail to stand as a defendant.
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The case continues until the end of May.
Kim was pictured arriving at the Palais de Justice in central Paris earlier this afternoon, supported by her mum Kris Jenner.
Alone in the room and half asleep
Kim explained that he sister, friend and mum were out for the night - and she was on the verge of sleep.
She said: "We were leaving the next morning and I was just packing up, at 03:00 I was just getting ready to go to bed."
She says she heard noises on the stairs and called out for her sister, but no one answered. Then two people came into her room who she initially "thought were police officers".
Kim with mum Kris Jenner outside of court
Credit: AFP 
Credit: AFP 
Credit: AP Kim begins her account
Giving her account of what happened on the night, Kim told the court: "I came to Paris for Fashion Week, and Paris is always a place that I love so much.
"I used to walk around the city when I woke up in the middle of the night at 03:00am or 04:00am, take walks around the city.
"I always felt really safe... I'd stop in little hotels for hot chocolate, it was magical.
"But when I came for Fashion Week during that trip, it changed everything."
The celeb wiped away tears as she spoke.
Kim: I am here to 'tell my truth'
Kim Kardashian vowed she would tell her "truth" as she began testifying in court.
She said: "Hi! I'm Kim Kardashian and I just want to thank everyone, especially the French authorities, for allowing me to testify today and tell my truth," to a packed courtroom.
Kim Kardashian starts testimony in court
How the robbery played out
Kim K arrives at courthouse
Kim Kardashian has just arrived at court to confront the "Grandpa Robbers" who held her at gunpoint during a $10million jewellery heist in 2016.
The reality star was pictured on the steps of at the Palais de Justice in central Paris ahead of her testimony this afternoon.
She wore a black suit with oversized sunglasses and a massive diamond necklace and ear cuff.
Credit: AFP
