Panama's Noriega back in US court over extradition

MIAMI (AFP) - Lawyers for Panama's former dictator Manuel Noriega urged a US court on Monday not to extradite him to France when he ends his jail time in the United States.

"The government of the United States, for no reason, very much wants General Noriega to be sent to France," the former military leader's lawyer Jon May told the US federal court in Miami.

"General Noriega has the right to be given the protection of the Geneva Conventions ... and be returned without delay to Panama," he added.
The general, 72, maintains he should be treated as a prisoner of war since he was seized in 1990 by US troops occupying Panama, and that the international conventions dictate he must be sent home upon completing his sentence.

To highlight this claim, Noriega appeared in court as usual in his military uniform. He was formerly a collaborator with the US Central Intelligence Agency, but as a military ruler fell from US favor due to the drug trade.

His jail term in the United States for drug trafficking expires after 17 years on September 9. In 1999, a French court sentenced him in absentia to 10 years for money laundering, and France last month requested his extradition.

Panama's President Martin Torrijos insisted on Monday that it would continue to press its own demand to extradite Noriega to his home country when he gets out.
Noriega "must serve out his pending sentences," Torrijos told reporters in Panama city.

The judge hearing the case in Miami, William Hoeveler, asked lawyers for the US government why it responded to an extradition request from France, but not to the one made in 1991 by Panama, where Noriega has also been convicted of charges including murder.

The government's lawyer Sean Cronin responded that once sent home, Noriega would be protected by Panamanian law from being sent to face charges in another country.
The court is expected to rule on the extradition request on August 24.

Other observers in Panama have claimed the Panamanian government is scared of Noriega, who ruled with an iron fist from 1983 to 1989, getting involved in politics again. His lawyers have said he just wants to enjoy his retirement.