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French court approves Noriega's extradition

AFP
AFP - [email protected]
French court approves Noriega's extradition
United States Air Force (File)

A French appeals court ruled Wednesday that former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega could be extradited to his homeland to serve time for crimes committed during his iron-fisted rule in the 1980s.

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Noriega, a former US ally who ruled Panama from 1983 until his overthrow in a US invasion in 1989, spent more than 20 years in a US jail before being extradited in 2010 to France where he was convicted of money laundering.

"The court acknowledges Manuel Antonio Noriega's consent to being handed over to the Panamanian authorities," the court said.

Wednesday's ruling comes after the United States agreed to a second Panamanian extradition request. US approval is required because US authorities sent Noriega to France in April 2010 while he was serving time in a Miami jail.

"I want to return to Panama to prove my innocence in these procedures that were carried out in my absence and without legal assistance," Noriega said.

One of Noriega's lawyers said last week that the fallen leader should be home for Christmas and might not even go to prison because of the 77-year-old's alleged ill health.

A longtime intelligence chief who became the country's military ruler in 1983, Noriega spent 21 years in a Miami prison on drug charges after his overthrow, and then was extradited to France, where he was sentenced to six years in prison on charges of laundering money for the Medellin drug cartel.

Panama wants him extradited from France to serve three 20-year sentences for the murders of three opponents -- Hugo Spadafora, a doctor and former deputy health minister, in 1985; Captain Moises Giroldi in 1989; and union activist Heliodoro Portugal in 1970.

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