Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, June 10, 1990                   TAG: 9006110190
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: F-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

NORIEGA/ CASHING HIS PAYCHECK ISN'T EASY

On top of that, it's conceded he came into lots of cash from activities that Uncle Sam, at least, considered legitimate: work as an intelligence agent for the U.S. government in Panama. Washington is reluctant to own up to how much it paid the deposed general. So, in a curious twist of events, the feds could wind up underwriting Noriega's defense. That would be unfair to the general as well as to U.S. taxpayers.

Noriega, seized during the U.S. invasion of Panama last December, is charged in Florida with a dozen counts of cocaine trafficking and racketeering involving drugs shipped into this country. He has an estimated $20 million in more than 20 different bank accounts. But as a federal move toward possible confiscation of assets from criminal activity, they've been frozen.

This obviously handicaps the general's defense, which is expensive. His lawyer, Frank Rubino, charges up to $300 an hour per lawyer; the four-member defense team already has run up bills of $1 million, which Noriega cannot pay. Rubino is petitioning for an accounting of the frozen assets. He says he can show that Noriega owns large amounts not obtained from drug sales: $11 million from the U.S. government for services going back to 1976; $7 million from other foreign governments.

Privately, the U.S. Justice Department scoffs at the figure. But it has not provided an accounting of the sums frozen. It can hardly do so without indicating, for all to see, how valuable Washington considered Noriega's services during all the years before their falling out.

The case could become even more entertaining once it gets to trial. The defense wants access to a horde of classified documents. A long list of U.S. agents and intelligence officials will be subpoenaed.

In the eyes of most Americans, Noriega is an odious figure. All the more reason he should be allowed to pay, from his legitimate gains, for the best defense he can buy. The government should provide that breakdown of his assets without delay. If it will not, then there is added doubt that so openly reviled a personage can receive a fair trial.

Meanwhile, the American people deserve to know how their government spends their money - most especially when the operations it pays for are meant to remain secret. Many strange creatures could crawl from under many rocks before a jury finally pronounces judgment on Manuel Antonio Noriega.