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🇦🇷 Argentina /Crime & Justice

“Justice for Fede”: Family, Friends and Rugby Community Refuse to Forget Martín Aramburú

From La Nación · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources In the courts
  • Argentine rugby clubs displayed a black banner reading “Justice for Fede” before matches across seven venues in Buenos Aires province.
  • The gesture came ahead of a Paris trial into the 2022 killing of former Argentina player Federico Martín Aramburú, whose alleged perpetrators have not been convicted.
  • His friend Oscar “Junior” Murgier said the action sought justice rather than a memorial and called for those responsible to be punished.

Across seven rugby grounds in Buenos Aires province, teams held up the same black banner before their matches: “Justice for Fede.” Fourteen teams repeated the message as Argentine rugby turned a Saturday round of fixtures into a public demand that Federico Martín Aramburú’s killing not go unpunished.

The action came just before the trial in Paris, where responsibility and punishment for the former Pumas player’s death will be considered. Aramburú, 42, was killed in March 2022 in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés district of the French capital. Four and a half years later, those responsible remain without convictions.

It was not a tribute to Fede. It was a demand for justice.

· Oscar “Junior” MurgierThe CASI coach explained why Argentine rugby clubs displayed the banner before their matches.

Oscar “Junior” Murgier, a close friend of Aramburú and coach of Atlético de San Isidro’s senior team, insisted the display was not a tribute. “It was not a tribute to Fede. It was a demand for justice,” he told La Nación. “We want to make the case visible, since the trial begins in France this Monday. We want justice to be done when this ends so we can stop talking about the case and then focus on Fede the friend, Fede the rugby player, Fede of CASI.”

We want to make the case visible, since the trial begins in France this Monday.

· Oscar “Junior” MurgierHe described the purpose of the campaign ahead of the Paris trial.

Aramburú lived in Biarritz with his wife, Mary, and their three children. He had stopped playing professionally and worked at Esprit Basque, a tourism and travel agency he developed with Shaun Hegarty, a former teammate at Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque. The two men were in a Paris bar celebrating news that the agency would sell tickets for the 2023 Rugby World Cup, and they planned to attend a Six Nations match.

Later that night, Aramburú and Hegarty argued with two men at a nearby table and went outside to fight. After punches and threats, the groups separated. At dawn, as the former rugby players walked along Boulevard Saint-Germain, a car suddenly pulled alongside them. A series of shots from inside killed Aramburú. “Nothing and nobody will bring Fede back,” Murgier said, “but at least there can be justice and he can rest in peace.”

Nothing and nobody will bring Fede back, but at least there can be justice and he can rest in peace.

· Oscar “Junior” MurgierHe said the trial could provide justice even though it cannot restore Aramburú’s life.
About this summary

Originally published by La Nación in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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