A year ago, Argentine ex-rugby player Federico Martín Aramburú was shot dead in Paris. Two far-right activists are at the heart of the investigation.
A moment of contemplation, a year after the unthinkable. This Sunday, March 19, a tribute was paid to 146, boulevard Saint-Germain (6th arrondissement of Paris), at the very place where the former Argentinian rugby player Federico Martín Aramburú was killed. Alongside the relatives of the victim were present the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, the ambassador of Argentina in France but also several players of the XV of France.
facts
The emotion is still strong, a year after the tragic night in which Federico Martín Aramburú died. This Saturday March 19, 2022, in the early morning, a fight broke out in a bar in the Saint-Germain district. On one side: the former Argentinian international (42 years old) and his ex-French teammate Shaun Hegarty (38 years old). On the other, a group of young far-right activists made up of Loik Le Priol (28 years old), former GUD and on file S, his partner Lyson (24 years old) and his friend Romain Bouvier (31 years old).
The reason for the altercation is still unclear. It is about a man who would have claimed a cigarette from the group of young people, who would have dismissed him by insulting him. Federico Martín Aramburú would then have wanted to defend him.
Hit in the face, the two former players go to a hotel to ask for ice cubes and treat their bruises. It is at the exit of the establishment that Aramburú is shot dead.
who killed the former player?
After the fight, it is a real manhunt that draws the last elements of the investigation. While Loïk Le Priol sets off in pursuit of the former players on foot, Romain Bouvier gets into a Jeep driven by Lyson.
According The Team, Romain Bouvier finds the two men at the exit of the hotel and fires four bullets at Aramburú, two of which hit him, before fleeing. It is only a few seconds later that Loïk Le Priol arrives, who fires six bullets at him, four of which will be fatal to the Argentinian.
The lawyer of the former “gudard” affirms that his client only took out his weapon after being attacked on the boulevard by Aramburu – already seriously injured – and Hegarty. He thus denies any premeditation.
what consequences for the suspects?
Loïk Le Priol was arrested by the Hungarian police when he was trying to get to Ukraine and charged with murder. A few months after the tragedy, he was sentenced in June 2022 to two years in prison for the beating of a former GUD comrade in 2015.
Currently in solitary confinement in the Meaux-Chauconin penal center (Seine-et-Marne), he puts forward in his defense his military past, which would have caused him mental disorders of the post-traumatic stress type. The “alteration of discernment” had been retained by the courts in the 2015 case.
Romain Bouvier, he was arrested in the Sarthe after the fact. For the same case as Loïk Le Priol, he was sentenced to three years in prison in June 2022.
According The Parisian, Lyson Rochemir, the companion of Le Priol, was released from prison in December. A fourth man is indicted for “receiving a criminal”, because of his possible role played in Bouvier’s escape.
A reconstruction of the facts must take place in September, according to L’Equipe.
