The Paris Assize Court did not accept the qualifications of assassination and attempted assassination. Loïk Le Priol, 32, and Romain Bouvier, 35, did intend to kill Federico Martin Aramburu, but did not premeditate their action, the court ruled. The first, a former soldier, described as a “good family psychopath” during the trial, was sentenced to 26 years in prison for murder on Friday September 25. The second, a literary arms collector, was found guilty of attempted murder and punished with 19 years in prison.
Premeditation supposes a "considered design" with "an interval" before the act, underlined President Franck Zientara, when delivering the court's verdict. This time was judged "too short" for the accused to have been able to "consult together". On Thursday, the attorney general, Philippe Courroye, requested twenty-seven years of criminal imprisonment against Loïk Le Priol and twenty years against Romain Bouvier. He considered, contrary to the court, that there had been "a manhunt" and therefore premeditation.
The president, his assessors and the jurors also sentenced Lyson Rochemir to three years in prison, including 30 months suspended, for concealing evidence. The representative of the public prosecutor himself requested Thursday that the ex-partner of Loïk Le Priol be acquitted of the facts of complicity in an assassination attempt. For the same facts as Lyson Rochemir, Anthony Sorrentino was sentenced to three years in prison. All those convicted have ten days to appeal, as does the attorney general.
This verdict was eagerly awaited, four and a half years after the events, which occurred in the middle of the street in the 6th arrondissement of the capital. Expected by the family of Federico Martin Aramburu, first, but also by Shaun Hegarty, his friend and former teammate, present when the rugby player was shot dead in the middle of Paris. The crime had thus shaken up the world of ovals, the city of Biarritz (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) where he had played, and Argentina, where he was born. On the public benches, red scarves flocked with “Fede” and the number 13 of the center forward, with the flag of Argentina, symbolized, during the three weeks of hearing, the union between the different worlds of Federico.
Self-defense “uncharacterized”
In the early morning of March 19, 2022, fifteen minutes after an alcoholic brawl on the terrace of the Mabillon brasserie, located on Boulevard Saint-Germain, in Paris, the two sympathizers of the GUD (Union Defense Group), dissolved in June 2024, fired ten times at the 42-year-old father, who was unarmed.
Romain Bouvier reached it twice. His version was that of shots being fired in a state of "total panic", with his wrist pointing towards the ground. With a choked voice, during his last statement on Friday morning, Romain Bouvier said that he "would never have the words to match the suffering and dignity of Mr. Aramburu's family".
Loïk Le Priol hit Federico Martin Aramburu four times, and one of the bullets was fatal. From his box, he declared that he had fired by "pure military reflex" in the face of a danger that he considered to be imminent. “You continued to press methodically before shooting the victim three times in the back,” reported Franck Zientara, adding that self-defense was “in no way characterized.” Loïk Le Priol was notably “driven by an invasive narcissistic rage, which ended with the death of Federico Aramburu”. His post-traumatic stress disorder, detected in 2015, was not accepted by the court as likely to have impaired his judgment.
“I will carry the weight of this guilt for life,” assured Loïk Le Priol in his last words. “During these three weeks, I tried to lay myself bare, to be sincere for the family, the court… I hope my answers were satisfactory.”
In this case, the racist crime was not accepted by the investigating judges. But the shadow of the radical far right hung over the trial. Before the court, Loïk Le Priol and Romain Bouvier, designated as an “evil tandem” by Advocate General Philippe Courroye, tried to minimize their violent ideological commitment. The defense denounced a case “contaminated” by its political dimension.
“[Federico Martin Aramburu] was the victim of the fatal alchemy of the duo formed by Loïk Le Priol and Romain Bouvier, both driven by a common fascination with weapons and violence.” - Franck Zientara, president of the Paris Assize Court
At the helm, in a very dignified posture, the widow of Federico Martin Aramburu did not demand any revenge. She had highlighted the “living pain”, still “present every day” for their three children. And had asked the court to render a verdict which would “help with their construction as adults”.
