Paris Court Sentences 5 Members of Direct Action Terror Group
A special court on Friday imposed unusually heavy sentences, including life imprisonment, on five members of France’s leftist Direct Action guerrilla group for staging two armed robberies in 1983.
The court of seven magistrates sentenced Regis Schleicher to life imprisonment for holding up a jewelry store and a bank. The bank robbers were later cornered by police in a gun battle in which an Italian guerrilla died and two police officers were injured.
Schleicher also was sentenced to life last year for a separate gun battle with police in 1983 in which two policemen were killed.
Jean-Marc Rouillan, one of the group’s leaders, was sentenced to 13 years in jail, as were three others. Rouillan, serving 10 years for conspiracy and due to be tried for murder, was accused of having been an accomplice in the holdups. The prosecution said he helped plan them and waited in a getaway car while the group snatched $10,000 worth of jewels.
The prosecutor had called for 20-year terms for Rouillan and his three companions and life for Schleicher.
Rouillan’s companion, Nathalie Menigon, was sentenced to 12 years last week for the attempted killing of two police officers.
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