The six week Parisian trial of Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, 62, popularly known as Carlos the Jackal, ended just before midnight on Thursday. The court handed down another life sentence to Ramirez who is currently serving a life sentence in a French prison. Ramirez was found guilty of instigating four bombings in France during 1982 and 1983, that resulted in the deaths of 11 people, injuring an additional 140.
Venezuelan born Ramirez attained global infamy as a terrorist who continued to evade capture for two decades until his arrest in Sudan in 1994. A supporter of the Palestinian cause,
Digital Journal reported in November that President Hugo Chávez praised Ramirez as a freedom fighter. According to
Militant Islam Monitor Ramirez, a convert to Islam, claimed responsibility for killing more than 1,500 people.
The Jackal was defended in court by his lawyer Isabelle Coutant-Peyre, whom he married in a symbolic Muslim service in 2001, although the marriage was not legal in civil terms. Coutant-Peyre passionately defends Ramirez, saying "He is not a criminal. He is a political man, a freedom fighter, a revolutionary. And he has been very badly treated."
Naharnet reported that prior to the court passing sentence on Thursday, Ramirez spoke for five hours in his final testimony. He took the opportunity to speak about the late Muammer Gaddafi, forcing back tears as he eulogized Gaddafi as an ideological brother, saying "This man did more than all the revolutionaries."
Ramirez also said "I am a living archive. Most of the people of my level are dead," before ending his recitation with the words "Long live the revolution!"
