2 new suspects charged within the Louvre jewel heist : NPR

A black curtain hides the window the place thieves entered the Louvre museum in Paris, pictured on Oct. 22, three days after historic jewels had been stolen in a daring daylight heist.

Thibault Camus/AP

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Thibault Camus/AP

PARIS — Two extra suspects had been charged on Saturday within the Louvre jewel heist case, three days after their arrests. A complete of 4 folks at the moment are being held and charged with stealing $100 million value of royal jewels from the Paris museum two weeks in the past.

The jewels are nonetheless lacking.

The prosecutor stated in an announcement on Saturday that two of the 5 individuals who had been arrested on Wednesday have been charged. One, a 37-year-old alleged to be a part of the four-man staff that police imagine carried out the heist, has been charged with organized theft and felony conspiracy. Prosecutor Laure Beccuau stated he was already identified to judicial authorities. The different, a 38-year-old lady, has been charged with complicity in getting ready the crime.

Two different males, additionally alleged to be part of the foursome, had been arrested per week in the past. They have additionally been charged with organized theft and felony conspiracy.

The man and lady charged on Saturday had been discovered by DNA and mobile phone information, the prosecutor stated.

The different three who had been arrested however not charged this week have since been launched from custody.

The two new suspects deny any involvement within the crime.
Adrien Sorrentino, a lawyer for the 38-year-old lady, instructed reporters “she is devastated” by the accusations and is contesting the costs.

Of the opposite two suspects charged, one was picked up at Charles de Gaulle Airport the place he ready to go away the nation with a one-way ticket to Algeria. The different was arrested at his dwelling within the Paris suburb of Aubervilliers. The first two male suspects, who had felony information for theft, instantly got here underneath police surveillance when their DNA was discovered on objects left on the crime scene. The prosecutor stated police had been pressured to arrest them prematurely as a result of one was about to go away the nation.

Those two suspects have “partially admitted” to the theft, in line with Beccuau.

The brazen jewel heist, which occurred in broad daylight, has shocked France. The thieves pulled a shifting truck with an extendable ladder as much as a wing of the museum. Wearing reflective vests to appear to be upkeep employees, they climbed the ladder to the balcony of the Apollon wing, broke the window and entered.

They used a round noticed to chop into glass circumstances holding the jewels. A Louvre guard filmed them in the course of the theft. The males climbed again down the ladder and sped away on two motor bikes pushed by the 2 different accomplices. The complete operation took lower than 10 minutes.

In their chaotic haste to go away the scene of the crime the thieves left behind many objects: a motorbike helmet, a round noticed, a glove, a gasoline can, a walkie talkie and a reflective vest.

Since their arrest, lower than per week after the crime, a portrait of bunglers as a substitute of refined thieves has emerged.

The incident has sparked a debate about safety on the Louvre, the most-visited museum on the earth. Louvre Director Laurence Des Cars, who testified in entrance of a parliamentary fee, admitted that solely a 3rd of the museum’s wings are underneath video surveillance, and that the digital camera on the balcony the place the thieves broke in was not pointed in the direction of the balcony.

On Friday, Culture Minister Rachida Dati unveiled the preliminary findings of an investigation by inspectors of cultural affairs. It was extremely essential, reporting what it referred to as a “chronic, structural underestimation of the risk of intrusion and theft at the Louvre for the last 20 years.”

Making up for the lax safety is quick police work. Many French folks have been impressed by their speedy apprehensions — amongst them, bookseller Karim Antille, whose Seine river guide stand is correct throughout the road from that fateful balcony.
“Our police are very strong,” he stated. “It’s not good to steal, but don’t touch our cultural heritage.”

Many really feel it is a race towards time to seek out the jewels earlier than they are often dismantled or taken in another country, or each.
In a press convention on Wednesday, prosecutor Beccuau stated she nonetheless held hope that the jewels can be returned to the Louvre and the nation.