A former Japanese Red Army member who took part in the hijacking of a Japan Airlines flight in 1977 was sentenced to life in prison Friday, two decades after being freed in a hostage exchange with the group.

The Tokyo District Court sentenced Jun Nishikawa, 56, after finding him guilty of violating the hijacking law, passport forgery, attempted murder and taking hostages at the French Embassy in The Hague, Netherlands, in 1974.

Nishikawa was first arrested in 1975, but his trial was suspended for more than two decades until 1998 after he became one of those released in a hostage exchange deal with the Japanese government.