Noriega Would Like to Solve Guantanamo Detainee Trial Issues

February 19, 2010
By pa.di.

Panama’s former dictator Manuel Noriega would like to tell the U.S. Supreme Court again that he does not want to go to France to face money laundering charges.

His lawyers filed a petition for a rehearing today inspired the two dissenting opinions of Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia, known as Nino to his friends and colleagues, in the Court’s refusal to hear Noriega’s appeal.  The lawyers are also working the Guantanamo Bay detainee angle in reference to Noriega’s POW status which would require the United States to repatriate him back to Panama.

“Answering the questions raised here would significantly aid in the resolution of as many as 200 petitions before the federal district court regardless of how the court rules,” said Noriega appellate attorney Jon May.

The problem some experts say is that Noriega’s case has little to do with the war on terror and that the Court can choose one of the 200 cases to address the Guantanamo Bay situation.