Family of Noriega murdered victim will oppose house arrest

The family of  a man murdered and decapitated during the Noriega  regime are planning to go to the human rights commission if the ex dictator is given house arrest in Panama.

Carmenza Spadafora, sister of the  former Panamanian opposition leader Hugo Spadafora, who was assassinated in 1985, said the family is considering going  before the Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) for violations of the penal code regarding the imminent extradition from France of Panama's former dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega.

Spadafora said that this is the path to be taken if Noriega is given house  arrest on his return to Panama without purging the crimes for  which he is responsible, including the killing of Hugo. She said that could not happen unless there was a flagrant violation or corruption of the legal establishment.

The family’s demand would be made once it was known that Noriega was in Panama and his attorney was applying for his  client gets the benefit of house arrest.

Spadafora said the move  to block house arrest would also raise  the cases of other families whose relatives were murdered like Portugal, Giroldi and Falconett e,  and those who disappeared during the military regime in Panama (1968 – 1989), "What happened is something we do not forget and we cannot turn the page" said Spadafora. "There are many young people in Panama do not even know the monster that this man was.”

She said there are also people in Panama that   still fear Noriega and others who can push for special rulings. "We the victims cannot let that happen. That is why I am calling on all families affected by violence during the refime to join us and to put the complaint with more force."

Asked about the argument that he should be given the benefit of house arrest due to his advanced age, Spadafora replied that she has seen how the Court in The Hague apprehend former Nazis who are 90 years old and coming in wheel chairs or who cannot walk. At no time is  the health condition of these people considered a reasonnot to proceed with a trial. Sh stressed  that the Panamanian Penal Code would not apply in the case of crimes against humanity.

Noriega was taken to the U.S. after the invasion of Panama in December 20 1989, and was convicted for drug trafficking.

After serving 17 years in jail he was sent to France to answer money laundering charges. Proceedings are nearing completion for his extradition to Panama in October

The former dictator in Panama faces two sentences of 20 years, one for the death of Hugo Spadafora (1985) and one for the killing of former Major Moises Giroldi (1989).

He has another case pending for the 1970  death of leftist leader Heliodoro Portugal, father of Patria Portugal, the current Ombudsman of Panama.