Preliminary Indictment Added to Three Already Detained
French prosecutors have additionally placed another man under preliminary indictment as a suspect in the jewel theft case at the Louvre Museum in Paris.
All Four Key Suspects Detained as Another Suspect Is Indicted
On the 28th (local time), the Associated Press reported that Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau announced the preliminary indictment of a 39-year-old man arrested on the 25th, stating that he is believed to be one of the four suspects directly involved in the jewel theft. This man is reportedly already known to authorities for previous criminal offenses. Earlier, French prosecutors had detained and preliminarily indicted three key suspects.
Based on CCTV footage from around the Louvre Museum, prosecutors believe that two of the suspects broke directly into the Apollo Gallery, where the royal jewels were displayed, while the other two waited outside the museum and then helped the thieves escape by motorcycle.
The man who was newly indicted is believed to have been responsible for the motorcycle. However, prosecutors did not provide specific details regarding his role.
Additionally, the suspects have remained silent regarding the whereabouts of the jewels during the investigation, and the stolen jewels have yet to be recovered.
Daylight Theft of Jewels Worth 150 Billion Won... Admission Fees Likely to Rise for Facility Upgrades
Meanwhile, at approximately 9:34 a.m. on the 19th of last month, eight pieces of jewelry estimated to be worth about 149.9 billion won were stolen from the Apollo Gallery, the royal jewel exhibition hall inside the Louvre Museum. Investigators have been sequentially apprehending the main suspects and their alleged accomplices through CCTV footage from the vicinity and DNA evidence collected at the scene.
On the 27th, the Louvre Museum announced that from January 14 of the following year, admission fees for non-European Union (EU) nationals would be raised from the current 22 euros (about 37,000 won) to 32 euros (about 53,000 won). The admission fee for visitors from EU countries will remain at 22 euros. This increase comes not long after the previous policy in January last year, which raised the admission fee for all visitors from 17 euros to 22 euros. According to the museum's 2024 report, the total number of visitors last year was 8.7 million, with 69% being foreigners. The largest group of visitors was Americans, followed by Britons and Chinese.
The Louvre Museum has long faced calls for facility improvements due to its aging buildings and increasing number of visitors, with insufficient equipment such as CCTV. The recent theft has brought this issue to the forefront, prompting the museum to announce plans to install 100 additional external CCTV cameras and establish a new control center. Therefore, it is expected that the additional revenue from next year's admission fee increase will be used for large-scale renovation and expansion of the museum.
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