カーダシアンさん強盗事件の被告、裁判で「後悔している」

【パリＡＦＰ＝時事】２０１６年に仏パリに滞在していた米タレント、キム・カーダシアンさんを銃で脅し、宝飾品を強奪したとして起訴された被告１０人の裁判がパリで２９日行われ、被告の一人は強盗への関与を後悔していると述べ、一人は関与を強く否定した。（写真は、フランス・パリで、２０１６年に発生したキム・カーダシアンさんに対する強盗・誘拐事件の裁判に出廷するユニス・アッバス被告）
　ユニス・アッバス（７１）被告は、２０１６年１０月２日夜から３日にかけて、パリのホテルで他の２人がカーダシアンさんの部屋に押し入り、カーダシアンさんを縛って約１０００万ドル（現在の為替レートで約１４億２０００万円）相当の宝飾品を持ち去る間、ロビーで見張りをしていたと主張している。
　しかし、アッバス被告が２０２１年に「Ｉ Ｋｉｄｎａｐｐｅｄ Ｋｉｍ Ｋａｒｄａｓｈｉａｎ（私はキム・カーダシアンを誘拐した）」というタイトルの本を出版し、事件を利用しようとした点について、検察官は法廷で同書を掲げて追及。裁判長は同被告に、なぜ強盗事件を自慢したのか尋ねた。
　すると、アッバス被告は激しく首を振り、事件に関与したことは「とても後悔している」と述べた。
　アッバス被告は、強盗現場には自転車で赴き、帰りも自転車で逃げた際に戦利品を入れたかばんを落とし、拾い上げたが、ダイヤモンドのネックレスを落とした。警察が押収できたのは、この一点のみだった。
　現在パーキンソン病を患っているアッバス被告は、カーダシアンさんの事件での窃盗は「度を越した」もので、自身の悪事に「目が覚めた」と証言した。
　裁判長が挙げた前科によれば、アッバス被告は強盗事件でのナンバープレート偽造、大麻所持、銃を所持した武装強盗の関与などで有罪判決を受けている。
　共犯者の一人、ディディエ・デュブルック被告（６９）は、がんと診断され、化学療法を受けた後、午後から出廷。
　別の武装強盗で２３年の刑期を終えているデュブルック被告は、カーダシアンさんに対する強盗への関与を否定した。
　裁判にかけられているのは、主に６０代と７０代の前科を持つ男９と女１人で、「オールド・オマール」や「ブルーアイズ」など、裏社会のあだ名を持っている。
　「心優しい義賊の年金受給者」といったイメージが広がっているが、カーダシアンさんの部屋に無理やり同行させられたホテルの夜間受付係の担当弁護士は、こうした作り話にだまされてはならないとくぎを刺した。
　カーダシアンさんは、５月１３日に証言を予定しており、注目を集めている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2025/04/30-17:14）

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 Tuesday 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 $10 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.
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 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 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.
- 'Easy shortcuts' -
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 other nine 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 however 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.