Two far-right activists are standing trial in Paris on Monday charged in connection with the 2022 killing of Argentine rugby international Federico Martin Aramburu following a violent confrontation.
Loik Le Priol and Romain Bouvier face charges of murder and attempted murder, respectively. If convicted, both men risk life imprisonment. The trial is expected to span several weeks.
Aramburu, 42, was killed in the early hours of March 19, 2022. He and fellow player Shaun Hegarty were dining at a brasserie in Paris when an argument erupted with Le Priol and Bouvier.
According to investigators, tensions escalated after Hegarty criticized Le Priol for his behavior toward another customer. Le Priol responded by tapping Hegarty on the head. As the rugby players departed, Aramburu allegedly grabbed Le Priol by the hood and slammed him to the ground. The scuffle resulted in Le Priol sustaining broken teeth before the athletes fled the scene.
Le Priol and Bouvier later pursued the pair in Bouvier’s vehicle. Bouvier fired shots at Aramburu before the car escaped. Le Priol subsequently caught up with the victims on foot and continued shooting, fatally wounding the former Pumas star.
Le Priol, a former military commando and member of the now-defunct ultra-right group GUD (Groupes urbanistes de combat), was arrested several days later at the border between Hungary and Ukraine. Authorities reported that he told police he intended to travel to Ukraine to fight following Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Bouvier is also suspected of participating in the 2015 assault on a former GUD official, for which both men were previously sentenced to two and three years in prison by a French court in 2022.
Aramburu retired to the southwestern French town of Biarritz. During his career, he played for French clubs Perpignan, Biarritz, and Dax, as well as the Glasgow Warriors. He earned 22 caps for Argentina between 2004 and 2009.
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