Noriega will not appeal French jail sentence

The lawyers of former Panamanian dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega will not appeal the seven year sentence imposed by the French courts, for laundering drug money. 
According to his legal team they will not to bring any action on behalf of their client, because this process takes a long time and the prosecutor did not appeal the sentence, reduced from a previous in absentia judgment of 10 years
The former general, who ruled the country harshly until 1989, when he was removed from power by an American invasion that caused the deaths of an untold number of Panamanians, will leave prison in a year and a half, because of time served – three years of additional prison in the U.S. at the request of the French authorities.
According to counsel, one of the wishes of his client, after serving his sentence in France, is to return to Panama where he faces a sentence for the murder of opposition leader Hugo Spadafora, in 1985.
Noriega also faces trial for the 1989 killing in Albrook, months before the invasion. Moises Giroldi and a mutinous group of soldiers opposed to the regime were tortured and shot.
In Panama opinion is divided about his return. He still faces trial for the murder of a leftist activist in Tocumen, a case the family wants to see moving ahead. Others have preached forgiveness for th 76-year old former strongman believed to be in health after nearly 20 years behind bars.
Panama, through its Foreign Ministry, has an extradition request pending with the French authorities, to face justice in this country for his crimes. Panama has no extradition treaty with France, and opponents believe that if he was repatriated he would enjoy the comforts of house arrest, instead of residing in one of the most notorious prisons in France.