Panama Will Ask France To
Extradite Ex-Dictator Noriega
PANAMA CITY (AFP) - Panamanian President
Ricardo Martinelli said that his country
will ask France to extradite former dictator
Manuel Antonio Noriega, where he faces human
rights violations charges.
"Panama will present the extradition request
in accordance with our laws, but it all
depends on the French government," said
Martinelli, in his first reaction to
Noriega's extradition from the United States
to France.
Noriega, 76, ruled Panama from 1981 to 1989,
when then-US president George H.W. Bush sent
troops into Panama and toppled his regime.
He was held in Miami prison after being
convicted of drug trafficking charges until
he was sent to France Monday to face
money-laundering charges.
Noriega was convicted in absentia in France
in 1999 for laundering drug profits and
sentenced to 10 years in prison. Under
French law, defendants tried in absentia are
entitled to a new trial.
Panama's foreign ministry said Tuesday that
it was the country's Supreme Court and the
prosecutor's office -- and not the
presidency -- that decide if an extradition
request will be issued.
Noriega has three convictions for human
rights violations in Panama, each carrying a
20-year prison sentence.
Panama's Vice President and Foreign Affairs
Minister Juan Carlos Varela said Wednesday
that his country has no extradition treaty
with France, but that Noriega's extradition
would be "viable" if the courts call for it.
Varela said that his office Wednesday will
write to the judicial branch, which must
issue the extradition request.
As leader, Noriega, a one-time CIA asset,
was ruthless in crushing any opposition to
his grip on power.
Varela said that his country wants Noriega
to serve time in Panama for his convictions.
"We are not going to allow Noriega to spend
one day not serving his sentence in Panama,
after he serves his sentence in France,"
Varela said.
However if and when Noriega returns to
Panama he may be treated leniently.
Varela's own brother, Congressional speaker
Jose Luis Varela, said Tuesday that Noriega
"should spend his last days with his family
in peace."
"Noriega has already served his time in
jail," said Varela, the ruling party leader.
Julio Yao, who helped negotiate the 1977
Panama Canal handover treaty, also thought
there was little appetite to continue
punishing the ex-dictator.
"I get the sense that people would like
Noriega to pay for his crimes in Panama, but
they will be compassionate with him," Yao
told AFP. |
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