Six suspected members of the Basque separatist group ETA went on trial in France on Monday over the killing of a policeman in a shootout in the eastern suburbs of Paris in March 2010, a judiciary source said, reports FRANCE 24.
Sergeant Jean-Serge Nérin was killed when shooting broke out between police and ETA members after the armed group tried to steal cars from a used car store and locked up the salesman.
It was the last killing attributed to ETA before it called a unilateral ceasefire in 2011 and pledged to turn in its weapons.
Investigators believe up to nine activists were involved in the incident, but only six were identified. One was arrested at the scene, the others managed to escape but were arrested between May 2010 and July 2015.
Only two, Xavier Goyenexea Irragori and Mikel Kabikoitz Carrera Sarobe, have been charged with the policeman’s murder. The others are charged with various crimes, including weapons theft and kidnapping.
The trial is expected to continue until December 11th.
ETA was formed in the late 1950s during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco and aimed at establishing an independent Basque state in northern Spain and southern France.