Louvre robbery: a second suspect charged and placed in pre-trial detention for "organized robbery" and "criminal conspiracy"

[This live coverage has now ended]. Four days after their arrest, the two men suspected of participating in the Louvre robbery were formally charged. On Wednesday evening, October 29, the prosecutor's office confirmed that both had been "charged with organized robbery and conspiracy to commit a crime " and "placed in pretrial detention." Earlier that evening, on the France 2 evening news, the Paris public prosecutor, Laure Beccuau, had announced that "one of the two suspects had been formally charged," specifying that the investigation was continuing with a view to the possible indictment of the second suspect. Arrested on Saturday, they " partially admitted their involvement in the crime to investigators," she stated at a press conference.

No help was received inside the museum. "There is no evidence to suggest" that the four perpetrators "had any complicity within the museum," stated Laurence Beccuau. The stolen jewelry "is obviously unsellable: anyone who buys it would be guilty of receiving stolen goods," she added.

A decision was reached after 96 hours in police custody. The two suspects "are currently being presented before the investigating judges with a view to " their indictment for the offences of theft in an organized gang, which carries a sentence of fifteen years' imprisonment" , and for "criminal association", which carries a sentence of ten years in prison.

More details on the two suspects. The first is a 34-year-old Algerian man who has lived in France since 2010. Already known to the police, his DNA was found on a scooter used by the perpetrators to flee. The second, aged 39, was born in Aubervilliers. He is known to police for aggravated theft and is currently under judicial supervision in a separate aggravated theft case. His DNA was identified on one of the Louvre's display cases and on items recovered after the robbery.

The manhunt continues. Around a hundred police officers remain mobilized to find all the members of the commando and their loot , estimated at 88 million euros. More than 150 samples of DNA, fingerprints, and other evidence have been taken at the scene of the robbery, the Paris prosecutor announced on October 23.