Relatives of massacre victims oppose Noriega plea

Relatives of  massacre victims oppose Noriega plea

THE WIDOW   of   one of the soldiers shot in the Albrook massacre of  October  3, 1989, traveled  from Colorado to Panama this week to oppose a petition to grant house arrest to former military dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega, currently in El Renacer prison.

Like other relatives, Gisela Muñoz, widow of Lt. Jorge Bonilla Arboleda, has not forgotten what happened that day and her wounds have not closed.

She has asked the judges to reject the request for house arrest from lawyers of the dictator.

Attorney  Ezra Angel filed the request May 18, citing health complications. Noriega has been detained in El Renacer Prison since being extradited from France in December 2011.

Twenty-two years before his return to Panama,  a group of soldiers led by Major Moisés Giroldi took control of the central headquarters of the defense forces in El Chorrillo and detained Noriega.

But the coup leaders were neutralized and eight of them were savagely beaten and shot in the military hangars located at Albrook Field. They were captains León Tejada, Juan Arza, Edgardo Sandoval and Eric Murillo; Lt. Jorge Bonilla; second lieutenants Ismael Ortega and Francisco Concepción; and Sgt. Feliciano Muñoz.

Sgt. Deóclides Julio was killed in the headquarters while Giroldi was executed the next day in the former Tinajitas headquarters. Captain Nicasio Lawrence died on Oct. 6 in prison after being tortured.

Noriega was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the murder of Giroldi; and later to  15 years for conspiracy and deprivation of freedom in connection with the massacre at Albrook Field.

Relatives met privately on Monday May 23  with judges Adolfo Mejía and María de Lourdes Estrada and presented them with a petition asked that Noriega’s request be  rejected.

Leaving the meeting, Gisela Muñoz said : “It is very convenient  now to say that he is ill, but the injunction that they are requesting is so he can enjoy his grandchildren.

“My daughter, who now has two children, lost her father at the age of 11 years, and it is not very easy to turn the page,” she said

Maritza Giroldi made it clear to the judges that she and the Giroldi family: “are against giving house arrest to the murderer Noriega.”

“This man has never shown repentance nor has apologized to the family,” she added.

She said that she is not opposed to Noriega receiving medical care, but wants him to complete his sentence in prison.