Chirac 'assassin' jailed for two years
Prosecutors asked a court today to sentence a man accused of trying to shoot President Jacques Chirac in 2002 to six to eight years in prison as jurors began deliberating on a verdict.
Maxime Brunerie, 27, told the court this week he wanted to assassinate Chirac on Paris' famed Champs-Elysees avenue during a national Bastille Day parade on July 14, 2002, so he would go down in history with a "shocking" act.
At the trial, which began on Monday, a police investigator and others testified that Brunerie - who had joined several extreme-right groups - was deeply troubled and may have been motivated by thoughts of suicide.
Defence lawyers argued Brunerie has psychological problems and deserves treatment rather than a criminal conviction.
Brunerie could face up to life imprisonment, but the state attorney general asked for only six to eight years' imprisonment.
Yesterday, Dr. Christian Gay, a psychiatrist testifying as an expert witness, said Brunerie's personality could be described as "uncertain and fragile".
"But that's not mental illness," Gay said. "He was clearly motivated by three things: the imaginary feeling of a dramatic failure, a deep latent depression and the influence of extreme right ideas."
Brunerie took the stand this week and told the court he "always had the impression of not being interesting to other people".
"I had failed in life; I didn't want to fail in death," he said, speaking in a monotone. He said he wanted "to do something historic, scandalous, shocking."
In July, a judge ordered Brunerie to stand trial on charges of attempted murder after experts said he was mentally impaired, but at least partially responsible for his acts.
Judicial officials insist Brunerie carefully planned the attack. They allege he bought the gun a week before the parade, had practised shooting and had emptied his bank account to buy gifts for his friends beforehand.
He is accused of pulling a rifle from a guitar case at the annual parade on the Champs-Elysees and firing a shot as Chirac rode by in a convertible. The French leader was not hurt.
Bystanders pushed the barrel of the rifle into the air as the shot went off, and police wrestled the gunman to the ground. As he was being apprehended, the man tried to shoot himself.
Brunerie told the court he wanted to relay "my deep and sincere regrets" for the attempt on Chirac's life.
"I would like to present my public apologies to the president," who has not appeared in court during this week's proceedings, Bruniere said. "I wrote him several days after my act ... I am waiting for a sign from him in the hope that he forgives me."
