Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega can be extradited to France when he completes his U.S. prison sentence on Sept. 9, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.
Noriega has been serving time for a 1992 drug trafficking conviction.
The 73-year-old Noriega made a bid in federal court to be sent back to Panama, but France wants him to face charges of laundering more than $3 million in drug profits through French banks.
Last week, another federal judge rejected Noriega's claim under the Geneva Conventions that Noriega should be returned to Panama because he was held in the U.S. as a prisoner of war.
Noriega's lawyer Frank Rubino is likely to appeal the decision. "I can assure this court and everyone else: You haven't heard the end of this," he said.
Noriega was tried and convicted in the United States after he was captured by U.S. troops who invaded Panama in 1989 in part to oust him from power.
U.S. Magistrate Judge William Turnoff's ruling Tuesday was technically a recommendation to the State Department for Noriega's extradition to France, which has assured the U.S. through diplomatic channels that Noriega will be held there as a POW once extradited.
The ruling was based in part on the decision last week by Senior U.S. District Judge William Hoeveler. Hoeveler originally declared Noriega a POW, but he ruled Friday that the designation does not make Noriega immune from extradition to foreign countries for other crimes.
Noriega contends that under the Geneva Conventions, a POW must be returned home after hostilities have ceased - in his case, more than 20 years ago. But federal prosecutors say POWs that have pending criminal charges must face them, or be sent to a third country that has a legitimate extradition treaty with the U.S., such as France.
"The rights asserted by General Noriega simply do not exist under the Geneva Conventions," Turnoff said Tuesday.
Noriega was convicted in France on the money laundering charges while he was jailed in the U.S., but the French government agreed to a new trial if he was extradited, according to court documents.
Noriega also was convicted in absentia in Panama on charges of embezzlement, corruption and murdering political opponents and sentenced to 60 years, but he could wind up serving only a fraction of that time or even get house arrest under Panamanian law.
Panama has filed an extradition request but has not actively pursued it, Hoeveler said in his ruling.
From NPR reports and The Associated Press
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