Spadafora family wants Noriega in Italy to face justice

The family of  a Panamanian opposition leader who was assassinated and beheaded want the former military dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega, sent to Italy when he is released from jail in France.

Dr Hugo Spadafora, was assassinated in 1985, during the reign of the dictator. The family, of Italian parentage want  the Italian justice system to handle the Noriega trail for murder. Noriega’s  extradition from France to Panama is expected before October.

Guido Spadafora, Hugo Spadafora's brother, told Xinhua news agency that the application has been filed because Hugo Spadafora and his brothers are Italian by their father and they are uncertain that Noriega  will  face justice in Panama.

Guido  said the justice minister of Italy, Nitto Palma, has publicly accepted in an interview with the Naples  newspaper Il Mattino,  his willingness to host the application and process it, and would be waiting for a response from France.

If the petition was admitted Noriega would be moved from France to Italy where it might implement previous Panamanian sentences against him. "We do not trust what might happen Noriega was tried  in Panama. We will push hard for him not to come to the country to mock justice and all those who  were tortured and murdered.

Spadafora. criticized the fact that Noriega faced U.S. and French courts for drug trafficking and money laundering, and not for a crime a heinous crime like the death of his  brother, who was tortured and beheaded