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March 30, 2006
France: Islamist Metro Bomber Jailed
We reported in November that Rachid Ramda, a French suspect accused of bombing the Paris Metro in 1995, lost his appeal against extradition to France. He had fled to Britain shortly after the bombing, and had been arrested and subsequently detained in custody in the UK in November of that year. His lawyers said they would take the case to the House of Lords to prevent his extradition.
Despite their protests, we announced that he arrived in France on December 1. The unnecessary detention of Ramda in Britain (at the tax-payers' expense) created mistrust of Britain by the French authorities.
Ramda (pictured in an earlier court sketch) was a leading member of an Islamist group called Groupe Islam Arme (GIA) which was responsible for the bombings of locations on the Paris Metro in summer 1995. The specific blast for which Ramda was held responsible took place at the St Michel Metro (subway) station in Paris on 25 July, 1995. This killed eight people and injured 87. The bomb had comprised explosives and nails packed into a glass vessel, causing horrific laceration injuries to its victims.
In France, he was accused as a conspirator in this blast, as well as facing 23 charges of financing the bombing campaign which lasted from August to November, 1995. GIA's last attempt at terror that year involved an attempted derailment of a high speed TGV passenger train going from Lyons to Paris. The campaign only ended when he fled the country and claimed asylum under a fake name.
Yesterday, the Times reported that 36-year old Ramda was found guilty on the charges of bankrolling the bombing campaign, and for this he has been given a sentence of 10 years, the maximum sentence possible under French law for this offence.
He will still be charged in a second procedure, for the crime of carrying out the bombings, for which he could receive an additional life sentence.
Ramda is a native of Algeria, and in 1993, he was sentenced to death in absentia for a bombing in his native country. He was found guilty of an attack at Algiers airport, which killed 9 people, and injured 123.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at March 30, 2006 2:07 PM
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