A French former soldier arrested in Hungary while fleeing towards the Ukrainian border has been sentenced to 26 years in prison for killing former Argentina rugby international Federico Martín Aramburu in Paris.
A Paris court found Loïk Le Priol, 32, guilty of murder on Friday, bringing to an end a trial that began on 7 September. The court did not find that the killing had been premeditated. His associate Romain Bouvier, 35, was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to 19 years in prison, Reuters reported.
“The narcissistic, intrusive and uncontrollable rage of Loïk Le Priol ultimately led to the gratuitous killing of Mr Aramburu,” the presiding judge said.
Both men were former members of Groupe Union Défense (GUD), a violent far-right organisation that has since been dissolved and banned in France.
His escape ended at the Hungarian-Ukrainian border
Le Priol’s connection to Hungary dates back to the days immediately after Aramburu’s killing.
On the evening of 22 March 2022, a then 27-year-old French national arrived at the Záhony road border crossing and attempted to leave Hungary for Ukraine. Hungarian police checking his documents discovered that French authorities had issued a European arrest warrant for murder. Police detained him on the spot.
Le Priol told officers that he had a military background and intended to travel to Ukraine to fight following Russia’s invasion. Hungarian police also found three knives in his vehicle, leading to separate proceedings over the possession of particularly dangerous objects.
A Budapest court subsequently approved his transfer to France, and Le Priol agreed to the simplified extradition procedure. He was handed over to French authorities later that month.
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Fatal confrontation in central Paris
Aramburu, 42, was killed in Paris in the early hours of 19 March 2022 following an altercation near Boulevard Saint-Germain. The confrontation began after the two groups argued at a café and continued outside after security staff removed those involved from the venue.
Bouvier fired first and wounded Aramburu. Le Priol then fired the shots that proved fatal, according to the findings presented at trial. Aramburu died at the scene.
Prosecutors had sought 27 years in prison for Le Priol and 20 years for Bouvier. The jury ultimately imposed sentences one year shorter in each case.
The presiding judge said Le Priol had been driven by a desire to kill and described the two men as sharing a fascination with weapons and violence. Le Priol, who had admitted firing the fatal shots during the trial, asked Aramburu’s family for forgiveness in his final statement to the court.
Who was Federico Aramburu?
Federico Martín Aramburu was a former Argentine international who won 22 caps for his country and spent much of his club career in France, including spells with Biarritz and Perpignan.
He was also part of Argentina’s squad at the 2007 Rugby World Cup, where the team finished third.
More than four years after the shooting, Friday’s verdict concludes the main criminal trial in a case whose manhunt unexpectedly stretched from central Paris all the way to Hungary’s eastern border.
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