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Three charged with Paris Ritz jewellery heist: judicial source

Three men were charged and detained Saturday over an audacious jewellery heist at the Ritz hotel in Paris this week, while two other suspects were still on the loose, a judicial source said.

Published: 13 January 2018 17:19 CET
Three charged with Paris Ritz jewellery heist: judicial source
Police at the back entrance to the Ritz hotel in Paris on January 10th, 2018. Photo: AFP

The men from the Paris region, who are in their 30s and are known to police, were arrested after becoming trapped by locked doors as they tried to flee the five-star hotel.

They were charged with organised theft using weapons, violence and causing damage.

The robbery on Wednesday evening saw a gang armed with hatchets and handguns burst into the hotel on the capital's glitzy Place Vendome and smash the display windows of jewellery shops on the ground floor.

Wearing balaclavas and gloves, the robbers entered through a rear staff entrance and swiped gems and watches worth over four million euros. All the loot was recovered, according to the source.

Two further suspects are being sought by police.

READ ALSO: A look at the biggest jewellery heists in France

CRIME

French parliament to investigate sexual abuse in cinema

The French parliament on Thursday agreed to create a commission of inquiry to investigate sexual and gender-based violence in cinema and other cultural sectors after several recent allegations.

Published: 2 May 2024 12:25 CEST
French parliament to investigate sexual abuse in cinema

The Assemblée nationale unanimously agreed to set up the commission demanded by actor Judith Godreche in a speech to the upper house, the Senate, in February.

The 52-year-old actor and director has become a key figure in France’s MeToo movement since accusing directors Benoit Jacquot and Jacques Doillon of sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager. Both have denied the allegations.

All 52 lawmakers present for the vote on Thursday approved the creation of the commission, watched by Godreche, who was present in the public gallery in the chamber.

“It’s time to stop laying out the red carpet for abusers,” said Greens lawmaker Francesca Pasquini.

The new commission is to look into “the condition of minors in the various sectors of cinema, television, theatre, fashion and advertising”, as well as that of adults working in them, it said.

On the basis of Godreche’s proposal, a parliamentary commission on culture decided to extend the scope of the inquiry to also include other cultural sectors.

It is to “identify the mechanisms and failings that allow these potential abuses and violences”, “establish responsibilities” and make recommendations.

The parliament vote comes a day after actor Isild Le Besco, 41, said in an autobiography she was also raped by Jacquot during a relationship that started when she was 16, but was not ready to press charges.

Godreche, by contrast, has filed a legal complaint against the prominent arthouse director, over alleged abuse that occurred during a relationship that began when she was 14 and he was 25 years her senior.

She has also formally accused Doillon of abusing her as a 15-year-old actress in a film he directed.

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