Panama to seek
extradition of former
leader Noriega
Panama's Foreign
Minister Samuel Lewis
Navarro said Thursday
that Panama will try to
extradite former
president Manuel Antonio
Noriega from France if
he arrived in the
European country to face
money laundering charges
from the United States.
"Panama will continue to
seek Noriega's return to
serve time on pending
and firm sentences he
has to serve and if this
implies we have to
interpose actions before
another state, we will
do so immediately,"
Navarro said.
He said, "Panama has not
been part of that
process, exclusively
between the U.S.
judicial branch and
Noriega's defense, but
there has been
Panamanian presence in
each one of the
developing steps."
So far, Panama has not
had any contact with the
French government about
this issue because "it
is not necessary yet,"
but" it will be
necessary if an
extradition is in fact
carried out to that
country," said the
minister.
Noriega's lawyers had
asked a U.S. judge to
stop the extradition to
France after his
scheduled release from a
U.S. prison this
weekend, claiming that
his status as a prisoner
of war entitled him
under Geneva Conventions
rules to immediate
repatriation to Panama.
On Wednesday, a federal
judge temporarily
blocked the extradition
of Noriega, giving his
lawyers time to present
evidence on his claim.
On Thursday, the U.S.
government opposed a
habeas corpus for
Noriega.
France wants Noriega to
face charges of
laundering more than 3
million U.S. dollars in
drug money and he could
face another 10 years in
prison.
If Noriega is extradited
to Panama, the foreign
minister said "he would
not be treated as a
prisoner of war, he
would be treated as
anybody else that is
condemned for the type
of crimes for which he
was condemned."
Noriega, 73, held power
in Panama from 1983 to
1989, when he was
overthrown by a U.S.
military invasion of the
Central American
country, designed in
part to drive him from
power because of his
links to Colombian drug
lords.
Noriega was sentenced to
40 years in prison in
1992 by a U.S. federal
judge on drug
racketeering charges,
but his sentence was
later reduced for good
conduct.
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