Nearly a decade after she was zip tied and held at gunpoint, American media personality and businesswoman Kim Kardashian on Tuesday will face the 10 men accused of robbing her once again.

Kim was locked in a marble bathroom while masked assailants made off with more than $6 million in jewels in 2016.

Court officials are bracing for a crowd, and security will be tight. A second courtroom has been opened for journalists following via video feed, an AP report said.

According to the report, Kim is expected to speak about the trauma that shaped her life. Her testimony is expected to revisit, in painful detail, how intruders zip-tied her hands, demanded her ring, and left her believing she might never see her children again, the report added.

The 2016 Paris robbery case

Out of the 12 men who were originally charged, one has died, and another has been excused from proceedings due to serious illness. “Most are in their 60s and 70s — dubbed les papys braqueurs, or “the grandpa robbers,” by the French press — but investigators insist they were no harmless retirees. Authorities have described them as a seasoned and coordinated criminal group,” the report said.

While two defendants have admitted being at the scene, others deny involvement. But police say the group tracked her movements through her own social media posts, which flaunted her jewelry, pinpointed her location, and exposed her vulnerability.

Yunice Abbas, 71, who is among the 10 suspects standing trial, has told French media that he and others who took part in the robbery did not know who Kardashian was, a Reuters report said.

“It’s not her, it’s her diamond we targeted,” Abbas told C8 TV a few years ago. Abbas has admitted his participation in the robbery – writing a book about his role. In interviews with French media, he said he was sorry for what he did and wanted to apologise to Kardashian. There is no possibility of a guilty plea in such cases and Abbas is standing trial despite admitting to playing a role in the robbery, the report said.

What Kim’s lawyers say

In the aftermath, she withdrew from public life. She developed severe anxiety and later described symptoms of agoraphobia, the AP report said. “I hated to go out,” she said in a 2021 interview. “I didn’t want anybody to know where I was … I just had such anxiety.”

According to the report, Kim’s lawyers confirmed she would appear in court. “She has tremendous appreciation and admiration for the French judicial system,” they wrote, adding that she hopes the trial proceeds “in an orderly fashion … and with respect for all parties.”

Her lawyers say she is “particularly grateful” to French authorities — and ready to confront those who attacked her with dignity.

(With inputs from agencies)