Extradicting Noriego to France

International Herald-Tribune:

Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, to be released from a U.S. prison in September, was due in court Monday for a hearing on an extradition request from France, which wants him to be tried there.

Noriega, 72, is to leave a Miami prison Sept. 9 after serving 15 years for drug trafficking and racketeering. He wants to fly immediately to Panama to fight a conviction in the slayings of two political opponents, his lawyers have said.

But American prosecutors are pushing for his extradition to France, where Noriega was convicted in absentia in 1999 on money-laundering charges. He was accused of using drug profits in part to buy luxurious apartments in Paris.

Noriega is set to appear before Senior U.S. District Judge William Hoeveler, the same jurist who presided over his original trial. Hoeveler will decide whether the U.S. extradition attempt is valid, although it is unclear when he will rule.

A magistrate judge will separately decide whether Noriega should actually be sent to France.

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Noriega's attorneys argue that Hoeveler declared Noriega a prisoner of war, a designation that they say requires he be sent home to Panama under the Geneva Conventions. The U.S. says the Geneva Conventions cannot be used to block his extradition.

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If the judge bought that specious argument on the Geneva Conventions, the Panamanians could immediately extradite him to France anyway since they should not want him mucking things up there either. France is doing the world a favor by seeking this extradition which is another indication of how much better a country it has become under Sarkozy.