Manuel Noriega on Trial in Paris

1 year ago

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Manuel Noriega is a penal globe-trotter. After spending 20 years in a U.S. prison, the former Panamanian dictator begins Monday his trial in Paris on charges of laundering drug money in France. He's accused of using Colombian drug money to buy lavish properties in the French capital. In 1999, Noriega and his wife were tried and convicted in absentia by a French court, sentenced to 10 years and fined more than $10 million. (She's now living in Panama and faces no charges.)

There was a time, in the 1980s, when Noriega was treated well by France. In 1987, French President François Mitterrand awarded Noriega the country's highest honor, the Légion d'honneur. Noriega, now 76, was also backed by the CIA, until the United States turned on him and, in 1989, sent troops into Panama to capture him to face prosecution on drug trafficking charges.

"The French trial is not the end of the former dictator's legal worries," the British Guardian reports. "Panama has asked France to send him back to his home country to face trial for human rights abuses, for which he faces a 54-year jail sentence if found guilty."

Filed Under: Surge Desk

Tagged: court, drug trafficking, drug trial, extradition, france, Manuel Noriega, money laundering, Noriega, paris, trial

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