Aug 24, 2007 3:56 pm US/Eastern
Judge Won't Block Noriega's Extradition To France
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MIAMI (CBS4) ―
A federal judge has refused to block a French request to extradite former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega from
the U.S. to France.
The federal judge decided Friday not to halt Noriega's extradition to France on money-laundering charges related to his drug conviction in Miami.
U.S. District Judge William Hoeveler, who heard arguments last week on Noriega's request to halt the extradition, said he would make his decision before the former general's extradition hearing by another judge on Tuesday.
Noriega, 72, who has served about 18 years in federal prison in southwest Miami-Dade, is set to be released next month because of automatic parole and good behavior.
The ex-general, captured during the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989, was convicted of receiving paybacks in exchange for letting Colombian drug lords use his country as a conduit for tons of cocaine bound for the United States.
After his sentencing in 1992, Hoeveler designated Noriega as a prisoner of war. His lawyers have cited that status as the legal basis for stopping his extradition to France and requiring his return to Panama.
He wants to return to Panama when his prison term ends Sept. 9, even though he could face more prison time on pending murder and extortion charges there.
But the U.S. government wants him extradited to France. Noriega faces a 10-year sentence on money-laundering charges stemming from his alleged funneling of $3.15 million to a bank account in France. He is accused of using some of that money to buy three luxury apartments in Paris. He was convicted in absentia in 1999.
At last week's hearing in Miami, both sides sparred over interpretations of Geneva Convention rules pertaining to POW transfers and repatriation.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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