Judge Refuses To Block Noriega Extradition

A judge refused Friday to block the extradition of former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega to France, where he is accused of laundering millions of dollars in drug proceeds through French banks.

Senior U.S. District Judge William Hoeveler rejected arguments by Noriega's lawyers that his status as a U.S. prisoner of war negated the French request under the Geneva Conventions and required his return home to Panama.

The decision, which could be appealed, means a hearing before another judge will go forward Tuesday on the extradition request.

Hoeveler, in a 12-page decision, said his designation of Noriega as a prisoner of war following his 1992 conviction was not meant "to shield him from all future prosecutions for serious crimes he is alleged to have committed."

France wants Noriega to face charges of laundering more than $3 million in drug proceeds through five French banks. Noriega was convicted in absentia of those charges and sentenced to 10 years, but the French agreed to hold a new trial if Noriega is extradited from the U.S.

Noriega, 72, is to be released from a U.S. prison Sept. 9 after serving 15 years for drug trafficking and racketeering. He faces up to 10 more years in prison in France.

While in the U.S., Noriega was convicted in Panama of embezzlement, corruption and murdering political opponents and sentenced to 60 years. But he could wind up serving only a fraction of that time or even get house arrest under Panamanian law.

Raised by adoptive parents in a Panama City slum, Noriega joined the army in 1962 and rose to power under Omar Torrijos, who seized control in a 1968 coup. Torrijos was killed in a plane crash in 1981. Noriega took control of the Panamanian government two years later.

U.S. officials often praised him for his role in fighting drug traffic and paid him hundreds of thousands of dollars, but Noriega's relations with the United States began to sour in the late 1980s, amid reports of his involvement in drug trafficking and corruption and his increasingly independent political stand.

U.S. forces captured Noriega after a 1989 military invasion ordered by then-President George H.W. Bush in part because of the Panamanian's links to Colombian drug traffickers. $5.8 million was seized at Noriega's Panama City home, and a further $20 million located in 27 bank accounts throughout the world was frozen at the request of the United States.

He was convicted of accepting bribes to allow shipments of U.S.-bound cocaine to pass through Panama.

In December 1999, Noriega asked to have his sentence reduced because of his help provided to the United States. Former U.S. officials testified that his assistance was crucial to U.S. foreign policy objectives in South America in the 1980s.