Jaime Giménez Arbe

Infobox Criminal
subject_name = Jaime Giménez Arbe


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date_of_birth = 12 January 1956
place_of_birth = Madrid
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alias = "El Solitario" ("The Loner")
conviction = Homicide (two counts)
penalty = 47 years imprisonment [ [http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5h5LsZmsZMX4_RSoh_vbQswkJwHdg AFP: "El Solitario is sentenced to 47 years in prison for murdering two police offciers (Spanish)] ]
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Jaime Giménez Arbe (also spelled "Jiménez" by the press, though the right spelling is "Giménez", as he wrote it in a letter [ [http://www.abc.es/hemeroteca/historico-10-08-2007/abc/Nacional/el-solitario-se-cree-curro-jimenez_164331754765.html ABC.es El Solitario thinks he is Curro Jiménez (Spanish)] ] signed by himself and showed to the journalists' cameras by his lawyer Mariano Trillo-Figueroa) (Madrid, 12 January 1956) is the identity behind the Spanish anarchist and bank robber known as "El Solitario" ("The Loner").

He is charged with more than thirty armed robberies, in banks all over Spain, as well as with the murder of two Civil Guards in Castejón (Navarra). [ [http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2007/07/23/espana/1185198012.html El Solitario’s one thousand faces| elmundo.es] ] In addition, in Vall de Uxó (Castellón), during a shooting with "El Solitario", one policeman died due to a stray bullet from another policeman. . [ [http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/Nos/tiroteo/parar/Era/guerra/elpepuesp/20070729elpepinac_21/Tes "He kept shooting. It was war." • ELPAÍS.com (Spanish)] ]

He was in prison in the United Kingdom because of drug trafficking, and eight minor trials in Spain had yet to take place. He speaks Spanish, Italian, French and Portuguese.

Jaime Giménez Arbe’s detention

He was arrested in 23 July 2007, in Figueira da Foz(Portugal) as part of the Gloria Operation. A large number of police officers, both Spanish (National Police Officer and Civil Guards from the Central Operational Unit) and Portuguese (Judge Police) were there to arreste him while he was, presumably, about to rob the “Caja Agrícola” Bank [ [http://www.20minutos.es/noticia/264069/0/solitario/novia/brasil/ El Solitario’s hobbies: music… and explosives - 20minutos.es (Spanish)] ] , located in 118 Saraiva de Carvalho Street, near the market and the famous Figuiera Casino. He was imputed with the murder of dos Civil Guards, which he killed with a shooting after they asked him to identify himself.

When he was arrested, he was disguised with false beard, mustache and wig, and, as always, he wore his bulletproof vest and carried three guns: two short ones and an automatic one. The unprecedented police presence in charge of his search ended a decade of crimes that made him one of the most wanted criminals in Spanish criminal history. In his usual dwelling, and also in a warehouse of his own, large amounts of guns and ammunition were found, as well as disguising props. [ [http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/Prision/preventiva/Portugal/Solitario/elpepuesp/20070724elpepunac_3/Tes Preemptive prison for El Solitario (Spanish) • ELPAÍS.com] ]

He was taken to Coimbra, where he was to declare. At the court door, before the many curious people and the media, he shouted "Hola a todos, soy El Solitario. ¡Salud españoles!" ("Hi, everyone. I’m The Loner. Here’s to you, Spain.") . [ [http://www.20minutos.es/noticia/264022/0/solitario/juez/portugal/ “Hi, everyone. I’m El Solitario”, says the robber at the court’s door - 20minutos.es (Spanish)] ]

tay in prison

On 27 July he started a hunger strike as a protest to his move to a high security level prison, which he stopped two days later. . [ [http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2007/07/24/espana/1185284756.html Preemptive prison for El Solitario after declaring before a Portuguese judge| elmundo.es (Spanish)] ]

According to his lawyers Portuguese Elisa Maia and Spanish José Mariano Trillo-Figueroa, the alleged criminal admits being a robber, but denies having murdered the three people of whose deaths he is accused of, claiming that the former Civil Guard General Enrique Rodríguez Galinda, and the former Extremadura Junta President Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra were involved n them [ [http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/Solitario/emula/Curro/Jimenez/elpepuesp/20070809elpepunac_7/Tes El Solitario emulates Curro Jiménez • ELPAÍS.com (Spanish)] ] . In addition, he admits that the robberies were indeed his, saying that he “robbed banks in order to liberate the Spanish from the bank’s thefts” ». [ [http://www.elperiodico.com/default.asp?idpublicacio_PK=46&idioma=CAS&idnoticia_PK=431440&idseccio_PK=1021 El Solitario claims he rbbed to liberate Spanish people from the bank’s thefts | El Periódico de Catalunya | Sociedad (Spanish)] ] .

Trial

During the trial, that took place in July 2008, Jaime Giménez Arbe pleaded not guilty to the charge of two Civil Guards murders, as well as declaring himself antisystem, anarchist and define his robberies as “bank expropiation”. He also confessed having started his criminal career with Corsican anti-capitalist groups, with which he commit his first robbery. [ [http://www.elperiodico.com/default.asp?idpublicacio_PK=46&idioma=CAS&idnoticia_PK=527241&idseccio_PK=1021&h= El Solitario claims he is an anarchist and never having killed anyone| El Periódico (Spanish) ] ] . Those sworn statements are similar to the ones in the letter he wrote for the “public opinion” while his stay in Zuera’s prison. [ [http://www.alasbarricadas.org/noticias/?q=node/7605 Jaime Giménez Arbe’s letter to public opinion, from Zuera’s prison (Spanish)] ]

In the trial, which took place in the Navarra Provincial High Court until 29 April 2008, he was found guilty of the two police officers murder in 2004, and was sentenced to 47 years imprisonment. [ [http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5h5LsZmsZMX4_RSoh_vbQswkJwHdg AFP: "El Solitario is sentenced to 47 years in prison for murdering two police offciers (Spanish)] ]

References

External Links

* [http://www.thinkspain.com/news/noticia.asp?CodNoticia=13452 Recopilation of news concerning El Solitario(English)]
* [http://atracaelsolitario.blogspot.com/ Recopilation of news concerning El Solitario(Spanish)]
* [http://www.alasbarricadas.org/noticias/?q=node/7605 Jaime Giménez Arbe’s letter to the public(Spanish)]
* [http://www.casoabierto.com/reportajes/cronica-criminal/losenfrentamientosdelsolitarioconlapolicia.html El Solitario's struggles against police officers(Spanish)]