Aramburu murder: 26 and 19 years' imprisonment for Le Priol and Bouvier
Paris assize court condemned Loïk Le Priol to 26 years and Romain Bouvier to 19 years' imprisonment on Friday for the murder of Argentine rugby player Federico Martin Aramburu.
Convictions for rugby player Aramburu's murder: 26 and 19 years' imprisonment
Paris assize court delivered its convictions on Friday in the case of the murder of former Argentine rugby player Federico Martin Aramburu. According to larepubliquedespyrenees.fr, Loïk Le Priol, 32, has been sentenced to 26 years' imprisonment, and Romain Bouvier, 35, to 19 years, for acts committed in the early hours of 19 March 2022 in Paris's upmarket districts.
Le Priol, a former special forces member discharged from the Navy, fired the two fatal shots that struck Aramburu in the back, who was unarmed. Bouvier had fired first, wounding the former Biarritz Olympique and Argentine Pumas three-quarter, before fleeing and leaving Le Priol to open fire in turn. The two men had emptied their entire magazines, firing ten shots in total.
Premeditation ruled out, fascist ideology at the heart of the debate
Jurors did not establish premeditation for either man. Bouvier was found guilty of attempted murder for his initial shot. The court, however, convicted both men of the most serious charges, without designating political affiliation as the trigger for the crime.
This ideology nonetheless occupied a central place during the three weeks of hearings. Le Priol and Bouvier had met within the circles of GUD (Groupe Union Défense), a dissolved student organisation with strong ties to Assas Law School. The court condemned in its findings "the lethal alchemy of a duo both animated by a shared fascination with weapons and violence". The hearings painted a portrait of two men steeped in fascist ideology, enthusiasts of Nazi symbols, in stark contrast with an Aramburu described by those close to him as a "radiant" and "life-facilitating" man.
A night of drunken brawling
The crime had been committed a few hours before the France-England match which Aramburu was to attend. It provoked considerable emotion in the rugby world, notably in Argentina and the Basque Country, where the player had resettled with his family after his sporting retirement.
At the hearing, Le Priol and Bouvier denied any murderous intent. Heavily intoxicated at the time of the acts, they claimed they believed themselves to be in danger from Aramburu and his friend and former teammate Shaun Hegarty, invoking a "tunnel effect", "fear" and "total panic". Le Priol also raised post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), an argument which the court rejected. Bouvier for his part mentioned childhood trauma.
The defence was severely challenged by a damning detail: on the day of the crime, the two men should not have been together. Both had indeed been prohibited from associating since their involvement, in 2015, in the beating of the GUD president during a settling of scores within the far right.
The condemned men's final words
Ashen at the pronouncement of the verdict, Le Priol spoke in his final address: "I am Christian like you. The Pope is in Paris today, I do not know if it is a sign, but I hope that one day they will find the strength to forgive me and also that I will find the strength to forgive myself." Bouvier, his voice choked, declared: "I will never have the words" in the face of "the suffering and dignity of Mr Aramburu's family".
The rugby player's widow had testified without anger, recalling "the existence of his three minor children" and demanding a verdict capable of "helping them in their development as adults". "The pain in our lives began on 19 March", she had said, it is "living, evolving", present "every day".
Ancillary sentences for accomplices
Le Priol's former partner, 29, who was driving the vehicle from which Bouvier descended to fire, was acquitted of the most serious charges. The court sentenced her to three years' imprisonment, of which two and a half years suspended, for concealment of evidence and alteration of a crime scene.
A 37-year-old traditional Catholic, also a former "gudard", received three years' imprisonment with suspension for having assisted Bouvier during a brief flight and having helped him destroy his weapon.
The convicted parties and the public prosecutor's office have ten days in which to appeal.
Source: Google News FR — Crime (fr)