justice

Crucial hearing on Noriega case looming in U.S. court

Former dictator Manuel Noriega’s appeal to prevent being extradited to France is scheduled for November.

If appeals fail, defense lawyers say France’s case against Noriega may constitute “double jeopardy.”

EFE

appeal delays: The time spent on preparing an appeal to an extradition request has added an additional year to Manuel Noriega’s sentence in a federal prison in Miami, Florida.1065352

Lawyers fighting to block the United States from extraditing former dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega to France revealed this week that the appeal will be heard before a panel of three judges in Miami this Nov. 10.

Rulings in appellate court cases are often delayed several months, however, meaning more time in prison for Noriega, whose appeal has already cost him an additional year behind bars. The former general completed his sentence on Sept. 9, 2007.

Even if the appeal fails, Noriega may not have much to fear in France.

Olivier Metzner, Noriega’s defense lawyer in Paris, explained that criminal courts there could find the case constitutes a “double jeopardy,” since France convicted Noriega in absentia of money laundering. And although French courts originally sentenced Noriega to 10 years in prison, it’s likely he would not serve more than two, if he serves any time at all.

Meanwhile, in the United States, the case was submitted to the Eleventh Circuit appellate court, where, like all extradition appeals, it takes the form of a writ of habeas corpus against Secretary of State and George Pastrana, who oversees the state’s prison system.

The defense team’s main argument centers around Noriega’s supposed status as a prisoner of war, a status that would require his “immediate repatriation” to Panama under Geneva Convention regulations. Those rules also prohibit his extradition to a third country.

In their written plea, Noriega’s lawyers refer to the defendant as “General Noriega,” describing him as “the prime leader” of Panama at the time of invasion. The plea also insinuates that it would behoove the U.S. to honor the Geneva Convention, since the same regulations provide protection for American soldiers abroad.

Prosecutors maintain that the appeal should be thrown out because extradition orders are simply not open to appeals. Additionally, they contend that the Geneva Convention neither authorize nor forbids the extradition of a prisoner of war. Interpreting the prisoner of war status this way, the U.S. prosecutors argue, would make repatriation an escape clause for criminals hoping to escape justice from countries where pending charges await them.