Over three decades ago, the US government executed the shocking arrest of the leader of a foreign country: Panama’s Manuel Noriega. The dictator’s case may prove to be a guide for the prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges now involved in the case against Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro.
Like Maduro, Noriega was accused of participating in a large-scale operation to smuggle drugs into the United States. And Noriega was also captured in a military operation in his home country.
Noriega’s attorneys quickly launched an aggressive defense of the military leader, accusing President George H.W. Bush’s Justice Department of violating both international law and due process protections by invading Panama and arresting him abroad.
They also claimed that Noriega had immunity as a foreign head of state.
Maduro, who prosecutors say ran “state sponsored gangs” and facilitated drug trafficking in the Venezuela, will “likely raise a series of significant objections to the prosecution” like those Noriega attempted, Steve Vladeck, CNN legal analyst and professor at Georgetown University Law Center, said in his “One First” newsletter.
Continue reading the complete article on the original source
