Extra particulars are being revealed in regards to the suspects concerned within the brazen daylight Louvre Museum heist that lasted lower than eight minutes contained in the world’s most-visited museum final month.
A 39-year-old French social media character has been recognized as one of many 4 suspects arrested and charged after the Louvre housebreaking, in line with Le Parisien.
Abdoulaye N, identified on-line as Doudou Cross Bitume, was detained at his house in Aubervilliers and positioned in pre-trial detention. He faces preliminary expenses of theft by an organized gang and felony conspiracy.
In complete, 4 suspects are in custody as a part of the investigation, together with three believed to be members of the staff of 4 filmed utilizing a cherry picker to succeed in the museum’s window and achieve entry.
Abdoulaye N. runs YouTube and TikTok channels below Doudou Cross Bitume. Movies present him performing tips on motocross in Paris and Aubervilliers.
His acquaintances advised BFMTV that he’s a “position mannequin for his era” and a “star of motorbike stunts.”
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau stated that Abdoulaye N. had been convicted in 2015 for a theft dedicated in 2014, in the identical theft case involving a 37-year-old, who was additionally arrested final week in reference to the Louvre heist.
The suspect is believed to be one of many two thieves who broke into the Apollo Gallery with energy instruments, reducing into show circumstances to steal the jewels. His DNA was reportedly discovered on one of many circumstances and on objects they left behind.
Suspect’s trial in separate case postponed
On Wednesday, a French court docket postponed the trial of Abdoulaye N. in a distinct case as a consequence of media consideration and different points which will impede the equity of the proceedings, in line with The Related Press.
A court docket in Bobigny, north of Paris, stated the suspect’s trial on expenses of damaging public property will happen in April.
His 4 legal professionals stated the extremely publicized Louvre theft didn’t enable them to correctly put together for the trial.
Maxime Cavaillé, one of many legal professionals, advised reporters: “We’ll be extraordinarily vigilant about a number of factors, to start with the respect of the presumption of innocence … and the respect of [judicial] proceedings.”
Cavaillé stated they may make sure that the “privateness” of their shopper is revered regardless of the “extraordinary nature” of the Louvre case. They declined to offer additional particulars.
The prosecutor agreed the case should be judged in “serene circumstances” that weren’t met Wednesday as a consequence of “mediatization [sic] and up to date occasions.”
The suspect had been initially scheduled to face trial Wednesday on minor expenses of breaking a mirror and damaging the door of the jail cell the place he was detained in 2019 as a part of a separate theft investigation, which later cleared him.
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Beccuau stated the person gave investigators “minimalist” statements and “partially admitted” his involvement within the Louvre heist.
Alleged password to Louvre’s video surveillance system
On the time of the Louvre heist on Oct. 19, the password to the museum’s video surveillance system was reportedly simply “Louvre,” in line with ABC Information.
French outlet Libération was the primary to report the information of the alleged password and cited confidential paperwork. The outlet claims the password was revealed by France’s Nationwide Cybersecurity Company in a 2014 audit.
The Louvre’s director Laurence des Automobiles confronted questioning by a cultural committee on the French Senate final month amid questions over the museum’s safety.
Des Automobiles stated that the museum had a scarcity of safety cameras exterior the monument and different “weaknesses” that have been uncovered by the thieves.
“At the moment we’re experiencing a horrible failure on the Louvre, which I take my share of accountability in,” she stated.
“We didn’t detect the arrival of the thieves quickly sufficient,” des Automobiles added.
She stated the museum’s alarms had labored correctly, however that it presently doesn’t have full video surveillance of the perimeter exterior the museum, although there’s a plan to offer full protection of all of the Louvre’s facades. The one digital camera over the Apollo Gallery, stated des Automobiles, was going through west and didn’t seize the balcony the place the break-in befell.
The Louvre urged to hurry up safety upgrades
France’s court docket of auditors urged the Louvre museum to hurry up its safety modernization plans as a precedence in a report carried out earlier than the heist that famous main delays within the renovation of the well-known museum.
The report by the Cour des Comptes comes after a sequence of failings and safety points got here to gentle following the theft of the $102-million price of crown jewels that shocked the world. The thieves used a truck-mounted cherry picker to succeed in a window of the Apollo Gallery and fled with the trove inside minutes.
“The theft of the crown jewels is undoubtedly a deafening alarm bell,” Pierre Moscovici, head of the court docket of auditors, stated at a information convention.
Moscovici stated that the heist was a “wake-up name” for museum safety and identified that upgrades to safety on the Louvre have been transferring at a “woefully insufficient tempo.”
The report, specializing in the 2018-2024 interval, stated the museum’s investments prioritized “seen and enticing operations,” like shopping for new items of artwork and bettering customer expertise. That was “on the expense of the upkeep and renovation of buildings and technical installations, significantly security and safety methods,” it stated.
A plan to modernize safety gear was being studied since 2018, however its implementation stored being delayed, the report stated. Precise technical work was solely to begin subsequent yr and was deliberate to be totally carried out by 2032.
“The tempo is much too gradual,” Moscovici stated.
The court docket of auditors, which is an impartial physique, believes safety might be improved with out hiring extra employees on the museum, Moscovici added. A earlier evaluation exhibits that the theft was made potential by outdated safety methods, not due to an absence of employees, he stated.
The fee for safety modernization is estimated to be 83 million euros ($95 million), out of which solely three million euros ($3.5 million) have been invested between 2018 and 2024, in line with the report.
The museum stated that over the previous three years, 134 digital cameras have been put in to complement or change outdated cameras all through the museum, the report famous.
The court docket of auditors really helpful that the Louvre give attention to priorities, together with bringing the museum’s technical amenities — significantly security and safety — as much as requirements, and minimize bills in different areas. Which means lowering artwork acquisition and saving on museum rooms’ renovation initiatives, the report stated.
In response to the audit on Thursday, the Louvre stated it “regretted” that the report didn’t take into consideration the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic disaster and the 2024 Paris Olympics, which the museum stated impacted sure selections.
The Louvre stated it agrees with a lot of the court docket of auditors’ suggestions and has already made related proposals. It famous that the Oct. 19 theft occurred weeks earlier than deliberate safety enhancements have been to begin being carried out.
— With recordsdata from The Related Press
