This Saturday saw the last farewell in the world of French rugby to former Argentine player Federico Martin Aramburu, who was shot dead after an altercation in a bar in Paris. Since the morning, the flag of Argentina and his portrait hung on the balcony of the town hall of Biarritz, a town in southwestern France where the 42-year-old former athlete resided, who also had tributes to his funeral at the local championship.
A ceremony was held at the Sainte Eugénie church in Biarritz and was broadcast on a giant screen placed in front of the sea in this city on the French Basque coast, where hundreds of people were present. The remains of Aramburu entered the church in the presence of his wife Maria and their two daughters, Trinidad and Justina. Many friends and family of his said present.
His coffin was carried by Thomas Lievremont and Nicolas Brusque, his former colleagues from Biarritz Olympique, as well as Argentina's Manuel Carizza and Shaun Hegarty, Aramburu's friend and associate, who was with him the night of the crime.
Other big names in French and Argentine rugby were also present at the church, including Gonzalo Quesada, who attended the ceremony held in French and Spanish by Don Arnaud, a Biarritz priest friend of the Aramburu family. As reported by Le Parisien, he described Aramburu as “a man concerned about peace”.
Biarritz Olympique will pay you an emotional tribute. A minute of applause will even be given to him in all the French rugby league matches this weekend and the players who currently represent his former club will wear a t-shirt with his portrait when they take the field in Montpellier.
Federico Martin Aramburu was shot dead last Saturday, after an altercation in a bar in the Paris neighborhood of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the night before the rugby match between France and England. After a discussion between two groups of people at Le Mabillon bar, the sides were separated by security, according to a police source, but the suspects “returned shortly after with a vehicle and shot with a firearm.”
Two young people named Loïk Le Priol and Romain Bouvier, activists from an ultra-right group, are the main suspects of the crime. Bouvier has been charged with “murder” and imprisoned in France and Le Priol — who is the prime suspect — will be handed over to the French authorities after being arrested this week in Hungary.
A third person was also arrested, a 24-year-old woman, alleged girlfriend of one of them, who was arrested on suspicion of driving the car at the time of the attack.
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