Easing of Noriega jail term opposed

RELATIVES  of victims of Panama’s military dictatorship under Manuel Antonio Noriega will oppose a petition  to  the Second Superior Criminal Court calling for  his imprisonment in El Renacer to  be changed to house arrest.

Noriega’s lawyer,  Ezra Angel,  said that among the arguments in the request are his health problems and his age. The former dictator is 82.

Maritza Maestre, who is on a committee of relatives of victims of the military dictatorship, said she disagrees that Noriega should be granted house arrest because he has not cooperated with the recovery of the remains of victims.

She said Noriega has a lot of information of people who were killed and went missing during the dictatorship, and he should be forced to turn over that information.

Susana Ortega, daughter of Captain Ismael Ortega, who died during a coup attempt against Noriega on Oct. 3, 1989, has said that if the court decides to grant house arrest, she and her relatives will not oppose the decision.

However, she said that Noriega does not deserve this benefit, since at no time has he shown repentance for deaths and damages he caused.

“Noriega is responsible for many crimes, tortures and disappearances during the military dictatorship and he has never repented for any of that,” she said.

Noriega was extradited from France in December 2011.