Panama's former dictator Manuel Noriega yesterday fought charges of laundering drug money at a new trial in France where he faces another 10 years in jail after spending two decades in a US prison.
The 76-year-old general, who ruled Panama from 1981 to 1989, looked frail as he stood before judges and gave his name, his hair slicked back and wearing a dark suit.
His three daughters were seated nearby as three days of hearings started, the second time France has put Mr Noriega on trial for laundering money from Colombian drug dealers.
A French court in 1999 sentenced Mr Noriega in absentia to 10 years in prison, but for years he fought extradition from his prison cell in Miami.
That legal battle ended however when the US Supreme Court turned down his appeal and he was extradited to France from the United States on April 26.
Mr Noriega's lawyer Olivier Metzner challenged the extradition, arguing that French authorities had failed to recognise the prisoner of war status granted to Mr Noriega in the United States.
"The extradition must be considered invalid even if that means deporting him to Panama," said Mr Metzner. He also argued that Mr Noriega enjoyed immunity as a former head of state.
The pock-marked general known as "Pineapple Face" is now accused of laundering the equivalent of €2.3 million from the Medellin cocaine cartel through the Bank of Credit and Commerce International which collapsed in 1991 after widespread fraud was found.
The money funnelled in the late 1980s was allegedly used by his wife Felicidad and a shell company to buy three luxury apartments in Paris that have since been seized by the French state.
Mr Noriega denies taking money from the cocaine dealers and claims the funds were from his brother's inheritance, his wife's fortune and payments made to him by the US Central Intelligence Agency.
Representing Panama, lawyer Yves Baudelet said immunity from prosecution did not apply as the charges against Mr Noriega "have nothing to do with his duties as head of state".
"We are dealing here with drug trafficking. We are dealing here with a person who had a very special relationship with Medellin and who obtained spectacular amounts of money from the cartel," said Ms Baudelet.
Since Mr Noriega's extradition to France, his lawyers have unsuccessfully fought to win his release from La Sante prison in Paris, arguing that the general is being held in inhumane conditions.
Judges have turned down the requests, citing a flight risk.
Mr Noriega has invoked his immunity as a former head of state and also spoke of his failing health to try to win his freedom and return to his home country. He suffers from partial paralysis and high blood pressure.
Panama has asked France to hand him over to face trial for human rights atrocities, but Paris has said that will not happen before the case against him in France has run its course.