Noriega murder trial set for May 21.

THE OVERWORKED spotlight on Panama’s ongoing corruption and spying investigations will change focus later this month when the country’s former military dictator, General Manuel Antonio Noriega, returns to center stage as a prisoner facing a murder trial, on hold since 1999.
Noriega, currently confined to a when chair, has been held in the El Renacer Prison since December 11, 2011, where he was taken after serving two years in a French jail, following 17 years in a US prison imposed after the 1989 US invasion.
On May 21 he will face face trial for the disappearance and death of the Panamanian political leader Heliodoro Portugal.
A judicial source told La Prensa the hearing will be have a “jury of conscience,” which must analyze the responsibility of Noriega in the case, which also involved other military personnel: Melbourne Walker, Moises Antonio Correa, Aquilino Sieiro Murgas, Pablo Garrido, Lucinio Miranda, Pedro Del Cid and Gabriel Correa.
According to the summary, Portugal was last seen in 1970 when he was arrested in the cafe Coca Cola, in Santa Ana, in Panama City.
His remains were found in 1999 in Los Pumas, Tocumen, during excavations carried out by members of the Commission of Truth, leading to his indictment for murder.