A French court has sentenced two far-right activists to lengthy prison terms for the 2022 murder of former Argentine rugby international Federico Martín Aramburu in Paris. Loïk Le Priol, a 32-year-old former marine commando, received 26 years in prison for firing the shots that killed Aramburu, while his associate Romain Bouvier, 35, was sentenced to 19 years. A third defendant, Le Priol's then-partner Lyson Rochemir, received a three-year sentence — with 30 months suspended — for obstructing the investigation. The court did not find that the killing was premeditated.
Aramburu, who was 42 at the time of his death, had a distinguished career that included 22 international caps for Argentina's national team, the Pumas, and a popular stint with the Basque Country club Biarritz in southwestern France, where he had settled. He was shot and killed in the early hours of 19 March 2022 on the Boulevard Saint-Germain, in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, after an altercation that had begun on the terrace of a nearby café in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés neighbourhood. Surveillance footage reviewed during the investigation showed an initial confrontation between Aramburu's companion, former teammate Shaun Hegarty, and Le Priol, followed by a street brawl. According to prosecutors, Bouvier then got out of a car driven by Rochemir and opened fire, wounding Aramburu, before Le Priol arrived on foot and fired the fatal shots. All three fled the scene; Le Priol was arrested in Hungary as he attempted to cross into Ukraine.
Both Le Priol and Bouvier were former members of the GUD (Groupe Union Défense), a now-dissolved violent far-right movement. During the three-week trial, both men claimed they had been acting in self-defence, with the defence citing post-traumatic stress disorder for Le Priol and childhood trauma for Bouvier. Hegarty, testifying earlier in the proceedings, angrily rejected this account, accusing the pair of trying to evade responsibility and calling for them to remain in prison for as long as possible.
In emotional final statements before the jury retired to deliberate, Le Priol told Aramburu's family: