French court gives Noriega seven years in prison
By DPA, IANSWednesday, July 7, 2010
PARIS - A court in Paris sentenced former Panama dictator Manuel Noriega Wednesday to seven years in prison for money laundering.
Noriega was found guilty of hiding in French bank accounts some $3 million made from the sale of cocaine. He eventually used a large part of the money to purchase real estate in Paris.
In 1999, a French court had convicted him of the charges in absentia and sentenced him to 10 years in prison.
Noriega, who is in his 70s, was extradited to France in late April. At the time, he demanded to be treated as a prisoner of war and returned to Panama to stand trial there on the charges.
“I have a right to everything that would be expected for a prisoner of war under the Geneva Convention, including a return to my home country after my imprisonment,” he said at the time.
A French court rejected his request.
Noriega spent 21 years in a US federal prison after being convicted on drug charges. He was captured in 1989 after an invasion of Panama by US military forces.
