Noriega wants to go back to Panama

Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, who faces charges of money laundering in France, has asked to be treated as a prisoner of war and to be sent home to Panama. Noriega was extradited to France from the US this week, and remains in custody in a Paris jail.

AFP

"As a prisoner of war, I have the right to all that is provided for under the Geneva Conventions, such as repatriation at the end of captivity," he told a Paris court Tuesday.

The judge decided to keep him in captivity, though his lawyer said his 76-year-old client was receiving medical treatment and looked “very weak”.

Noriega was sentenced to ten years in prison when he was convicted in absentia in France in 1989 of laundering drug money. But he is legally entitled to a new trial now that he is on French soil.

He is accused of transferring some 2.3 million euros from Colombian drug dealers into French bank accounts.

His defence lawyers contest France’s jurisdiction, and say Noriega should be allowed to return to Panama, where he has also been convicted in absentia.