Varoujan Garabedian is a former member of Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia

Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia

The Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia or ASALA was an Armenian nationalist militant organization, that operated from 1975 to 1986. The group also operated under other names such as The Orly Group and the 3 October Organization...

 (ASALA).

He was born in 1954 in Kamishli, Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

, into a family of Armenian refugees from the Armenian Genocide

Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide—also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, as the Great Crime—refers to the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I...

.

Garabedian was arrested in France for taking part in the July 15, 1983 bombing of a Turkish Airlines check-in desk

Orly airport attack

The Orly Airport attack was the 15 July 1983 bombing of a Turkish Airlines check-in counter at Orly Airport in Paris, France, by the Armenian militant organization ASALA as part of its campaign for the recognition of and reparations for the Armenian Genocide...

 at Orly airport, Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, and confessed to planting the bomb. The attack killed 8 people: 4 French, 2 Turks, 1 American and 1 Swede, and wounded 61.

During the trial in Créteil

Créteil

-Health:As of 1 January 2006, 27 pharmacies, about 60 dentists, about 60 general practitioners, 10 pediatricians, and a half-dozen ophthalmologists and dermatologists constitute the general medical staff of the city.Health facilities include:...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, Garabedian, where he was defended by Jacques Vergès

Jacques Vergès

Jacques Vergès, born 5 March 1925 in Ubon Ratchathani, Siam , is a French-Vietnamese lawyer who has earned fame continually since the 1950s, first as an anticolonialist communist figure and then for defending a long string of well-known clients from anticolonialist Algerian militant Djamila...

 (the victims of attack being defended by Gide Loyrette Nouel

Gide Loyrette Nouel

Gide Loyrette Nouel is an independent French law firm based in Paris. Though Pierre Gide's legal practice began as early as 1920, the firm was itself founded in 1957 by Gide, Jean Loyrette and Philippe Nouel after the Barreau de Paris amended its rules allowing lawyers to form associations and...

) denied his earlier confession of having planted the bomb, but was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment on March 3, 1985. After spending 17 years in jail, he was released in 2001 on the condition that he was deported to Armenia

Armenia

Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...

. The mayor of Yerevan, Robert Nazarian, had pledged to provide him with employment and accommodation, and in Yerevan

Yerevan

Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country...

 Garabedian had a meeting with Prime Minister

Prime Minister of Armenia

The Prime Minister of Armenia is the most senior minister within the Armenian government, and is required by the constitution to "oversee the Government's regular activities and coordinate the work of the Ministers." The Prime Minister is appointed by the President of Armenia, but can be removed by...

 Andranik Markarian, who expressed happiness at his release.