Panama will throw former military leader Manuel Noriega in jail if he tries to return home after leaving a US prison later this year, the government said on Wednesday.
A Sept. 9 release date has been set for Noriega, who was captured by US forces after the 1989 invasion of Panama and then jailed in Florida on charges that he let Colombian traffickers use Panama as a transit hub for US-bound drugs.
"I think, under the circumstances, he has served a sufficient sentence," said Senior US District Judge William Hoeveler, quoted by the Miami Herald newspaper.
Upon his release, Noriega may be promptly extradited to Panama or France, where charges are pending, the paper wrote.
His lawyer said Noriega, 70, wants to go home at the end of his 15 years behind bars to enjoy time with his grandchildren and fight a murder conviction against him.
"His whole life is in Panama and obviously he wants to return to Panama," attorney Frank Rubino said, adding that Noriega was healthy and in good spirits.
Noriega was convicted in absentia by Panama's courts for murder and Justice Minister Olga Golcher said his reception might not be the one he hopes for.
"On entering the country and as a convict, he is immediately put at the order of the prison system," Golcher told journalists.
She said Panama requested Noriega's extradition from the US in 1991 but was never given a reply.
"If the United States concedes it, we would have to take the corresponding measures to take charge of the detainee. If they decide to deny it, the United States will have to see if it keeps him in the country and under what status, or if he goes to a third country," she said.
Noriega wants to challenge his conviction in Panama for the 1985 torture-slaying of Hugo Spadafora, a doctor and journalist who was one of his most vocal critics. Noriega was convicted in absentia to 20 years in prison.
"He will move to reopen that case so he can clear himself," his lawyer Rubino said.
He was convicted in a Miami federal court in 1992 of trafficking, racketeering and conspiracy. The sentence was for 40 years but it was reduced to 30 years and he has been granted additional breaks for good behavior and time served.
Noriega had worked with the CIA for years but fell out of Washington's favor amid charges of narcotics trafficking and jeopardizing the neutrality of the Panama Canal.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is constructing a new counter-stealth radar system on a disputed reef in the South China Sea that would significantly expand its surveillance capabilities in the region, satellite imagery suggests. Analysis by London-based think tank Chatham House suggests China is upgrading its outpost on Triton Island (Jhongjian Island, 中建島) on the southwest corner of the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島), building what might be a launching point for an anti-ship missile battery and sophisticated radar system. “By constraining the US ability to operate stealth aircraft, and threaten stealth aircraft, these capabilities in the South China Sea send
HAVANA: Repeated blackouts have left residents of the Cuban capital concerned about food, water supply and the nation’s future, but so far, there have been few protests Maria Elena Cardenas, 76, lives in a municipal shelter on Amargura Street in Havana’s colonial old town. The building has an elegant past, but for the last few days Maria has been cooking with sticks she had found on the street. “You know, we Cubans manage the best we can,” she said. She lives in the shelter because her home collapsed, a regular occurrence in the poorest, oldest parts of the beautiful city. Cuba’s government has spent the last days attempting to get the island’s national grid functioning after repeated island-wide blackouts. Without power, sleep becomes difficult in the heat, food
Botswana is this week holding a presidential election energized by a campaign by one previous head-of-state to unseat his handpicked successor whose first term has seen rising discontent amid a downturn in the diamond-dependent economy. The charismatic Ian Khama dramatically returned from self-exile six weeks ago determined to undo what he has called a “mistake” in handing over in 2018 to Botswanan President Mokgweetsi Masisi, who seeks re-election tomorrow. While he cannot run as president again having served two terms, Khama has worked his influence and standing to support the opposition in the southern African country of 2.6 million people. “The return of
SOUTH CHINA SEA TENSIONS: Beijing’s ‘pronounced aggressiveness’ and ‘misbehavior’ forced countries to band together, the Philippine defense chief said The Philippines is confident in the continuity of US policies in the Asia-Pacific region after the US presidential election, Philippine Secretary of Defense Gilberto Teodoro said, underlining that bilateral relations would remain strong regardless of the outcome. The alliance between the two countries is anchored in shared security goals and a commitment to uphold international law, including in the contested waters of the South China Sea, Teodoro said. “Our support for initiatives, bilaterally and multilaterally ... is bipartisan, aside from the fact that we are operating together on institutional grounds, on foundational grounds,” Teodoro said in an interview. China’s “misbehavior” in the South
RSS