The former Panamanian dictator, Manuel Noriega, was to appear in court in Paris on Monday at the start of his trial on charges of laundering drug money in France.
The 76-year-old general, who spent 20 years in jail in the US before being extradited to France in April, is accused of using money from a Colombian cocaine cartel to buy luxury properties in the French capital in the 1980s.
He and his wife, Felicidad, were convicted of money laundering in absentia by a French court in 1999 and sentenced to 10 years in prison and a 11.2 million euro (US$13.7 million) fine. He was extradited from Miami in April on an international arrest warrant.
The general is now being retried on the same charges, namely that he laundered 2.3 million euros from the Medellin cocaine cartel through BCCI bank in the 1980s. The money was allegedly used to buy three luxury apartments in Paris that have since been seized by the French authorities.
At the time, Noriega, who ruled Panama from 1981 to 1989, was welcomed in France at the highest levels of state. He was decorated with the Legion d’honneur — the country’s highest award — by then French president, Francois Mitterrand, during an official visit in 1987 and allowed to open accounts with large French banks.
His wife is living in Panama and faces no charges. She and the couple’s daughters were known in Paris for spending tens of thousands of francs in one day’s shopping.
Noriega, who waged a long battle from his Miami cell to fight extradition to France, denies the money came from drugs. He says the fortune came from his brother’s inheritance, his wife’s personal fortune and payments made to him by the CIA.
“I would like to say that I disagree with the accusations being laid against me,” Noriega, speaking in Spanish, told the French court during his first appearance in April.
The once-feared dictator invoked his immunity as a former head of state. He also spoke of health problems, saying he suffered from hemiplegia, a condition that causes partial paralysis and high blood pressure, brought on by a stroke.
Since his extradition, his lawyers have lodged several appeals for his release on bail. These have been turned down, with judges fearing he could flee the country.
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