Manuel Noriega, the former dictator of Panama, looked a shadow of his old, fearsome self yesterday as he sat in a Paris court on trial for laundering money for a Colombian drug cartel.
A whiff of the 1980s descended on the small courtroom as French justice finally had its turn with the former US ally, whose career as a “narco-president” ended when George Bush Sr sent American forces to invade his country. They extracted him from a refuge in the Vatican Embassy in Panama City in January 1990 after blasting it with heavy metal music for three days.
After 20 years in prison in Florida for drug dealing and racketeering, “Pineapple Face”, as he was known, was extradited to France in April to become the first foreign leader to stand trial there. His lawyers — stars of the French Bar — opened by arguing that France had no business trying a former head of state, accusing it of breaking international law by failing to give him the prisoner of war status that he enjoyed in Florida.
The former Central American strongman managed a little of his old military swagger as he stood to state his name and Paris address, La Santé prison, even if he muddled his date of birth. “Born in Panama City on February 11, 1936, er . . . 1934,” he said through an interpreter, as his three daughters watched nearby.
A ribbon denoting the high decoration of Commander of the Legion of Honour was visible on the lapel of the general’s suit. It was bestowed on him by President Mitterrand in 1987, when France was on good terms with the military chief who had been paid by the CIA for his help in fighting communism in the region before he fell out with Washington.
Advertisement
A special decree was quietly issued last month, allowing President Sarkozy’s Government to strip the general of his decoration if he is convicted of laundering ¤2.3 million (£1.9 million) from the Medellín cocaine cartel through the now defunct Bank of Credit and Commerce International.
The money, most of which was allegedly invested in three luxurious houses on the Paris Left Bank, is part of about ¤10 million that Noriega is accused of funnelling — but is small change compared with the hundreds of millions that he is alleged to have cleared for Pablo Escobar and his colleagues in the Medellín cartel. In 1999 a Paris court sentenced him in his absence to the maximum ten years for the French-based offences.
Noriega’s lawyers called the charges an act of vengeance against an old man who should be left in peace. “The United States honoured and paid General Noriega for years and years,” Olivier Metzner, his chief lawyer, said. “He rendered them immense services . . . He was honoured by France.”
Mr Metzner wondered why France had not attempted to extradite Felicidad Sieiro de Noriega, the general’s wife, who was also convicted in the 1999 Paris trial and is living in Panama. The lawyers also cited the petty humiliations, including not being able to wear his army uniform, being suffered by the general in his tiny cell at La Santé, a Victorian fortress in central Paris.
The former “maximum leader”, who became the formal head of state only in his final months of power, has always argued that he fought against the traffickers. He denies receiving money from the cocaine cartel and insists that the funds came from family inheritance, his wife’s fortune and his payments from the CIA.
Advertisement
Yves Baudelet, a lawyer for Panama, told the judges that immunity from prosecution did not apply as the charges against Noriega had nothing to do with his duties as head of state.
“We are dealing here with drug trafficking,” he told the court. “We are dealing here with a person who had a very special relationship with Medellín and who obtained spectacular amounts of money from the cartel.”
After the proceedings are over, with a verdict expected during the summer, it is thought likely that France will grant a request from Panama for Noriega’s extradition to face trial for killings and torture carried out by his forces in the 1970s and 1980s.
Relatives of his victims are anxious that he might end his days in a French prison, instead of facing justice at home.
Nowhere to run
Advertisement
1983 Noriega became Panama’s de facto president
December 20, 1989 President Bush Sr orders the invasion of Panama but Noriega evades capture
December 25 Noriega is granted refuge in the Vatican Embassy in Panama City
December 26 James Baker, the US Secretary of State, demands that the dictator be handed over
December 27 The US begins blasting rock music at the embassy. Welcome to the Jungle by Guns N’ Roses is a favourite
Advertisement
January 3, 1990 Noriega surrenders to US troops
Source: Times database