It's Bon Voyage for Noriega

Judge OKs France's extradition request for former dictator; he'll serve jail term there
By Sam Gale Rosen,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 28, 2007 12:33 PM CDT
It's Bon Voyage for Noriega
Attorneys for former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, Frank Rubino, left, and Jon May listen to questions from members of the media Friday, Aug. 24, 2007 in Miami after a judge refused to block the extradition of Noriega to France, where he is accused of laundering millions of dollars in drug proceeds...   (Associated Press)

Former dictator of Panama Manuel Noriega will be extradited to France to serve ten more years of jail time. Noriega has done 18 years in a Miami prison, and will be released for good behavior next month. He faces money laundering charges in France, but had asked to return to Panama—despite possibly facing even more jail time there.

Noriega had sought the right to return to Panama under the Geneva Convention, having been officially classified as a POW. But the same judge who made the classification in 1992 didn't take the bait this time. "'This court never intended for the proclamation of defendant as a POW to shield him from all future prosecutions," he said. (More Manuel Noriega stories.)

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