Manuel Noriega jailed for seven years in France
Manuel Noriega, the former Panamanian dictator, was sentenced to seven years in jail today after a French court found him guilty of laundering €2.3m (£1.9m) worth of drug profits during his time in power.
Noriega, who was ousted by Washington in 1989 and has spent the past 20 years in jail the United States, looked startled as the verdict was read out in the austere Tribunal correctionnel in Paris and had to be helped from the court by gendarmes.
During his trial last week the general insisted he was innocent of the charges, which he said were the "imaginary" creations of a US-led conspiracy.
A former ally of Washington, who for years was on the payroll of the CIA, the former strongman nicknamed Pineapple Face became an enemy whose clutch on power George Bush Sr became determined to end....
Read entire article at Guardian (UK)
Noriega, who was ousted by Washington in 1989 and has spent the past 20 years in jail the United States, looked startled as the verdict was read out in the austere Tribunal correctionnel in Paris and had to be helped from the court by gendarmes.
During his trial last week the general insisted he was innocent of the charges, which he said were the "imaginary" creations of a US-led conspiracy.
A former ally of Washington, who for years was on the payroll of the CIA, the former strongman nicknamed Pineapple Face became an enemy whose clutch on power George Bush Sr became determined to end....