PANAMA GENERAL ACCUSED IN KILLING

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000403790026-4
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 9, 2012
• Sequence Number: 26
• Publication Date: June 20, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 20.1.2/02/09: CIA-RDP90-00965R000403790026-4
`"v 20 June 1986_-
Panama General Accused in Killing1
.r By 3AIII01111 ZNNO d
SMNN to 710'160 Vita 7.
PANAMA, Jar 106- b an elfoR
confront the mYlllp Panamanian ositiat Radars coda
supported a formal accusation that
army chief here ordered the behe
of an opposition leader last year.
The accusation was presented today
by the family of the slain leader, Dr.
Hy Spadafora, whore decapitated
body was found a day after he was seen
being detained by Panamanian sol-
diers last September.
The opposition Christian Democratic Party and Authentic Panamanian
Party supported a demonstration of
about 350 people who baclosd the fami-
ly's demand that the Attorney General
investigate whether the army com-
mander, Gen. Manuel Antonio Norle-
ga, ordered the killing.
Dr. Spadafora's slaying has come to
play a major part in opposition de-
mands fir an end to military control of
the Government. It is widely believed
here that the army summarily dis-
missed the last President, Nicolas Ar?
dito Barletta, because he tried to inves.
tigate the killing last year.
AechaaddING IN U.S.
Several United States officials in
Washington have said recently that the
army killed Dr. Spadafora, possibly on
the direct orders of General Noriega.
General Noriega has repeatedly denied
the charges.
Although there is circumstantial evi-
de nce of army involvement in the kill.
ing, the de facto military Government
appears not to have inv led Dr.
Spadafora's killing thoroughly. The
army is refusing to appoint a special in-
vestigating commission in the case.
"They can't fully investigate this
case because they know the truth will i
come out - which is that they. did It,"'
said Guillermo Sanchez Borbds, a lead-
ing opposition newspaper columnist,
who has published many details of the
killing that point to army involvement.
Dr. Spadafora, a doctor who sup-
ported revolutionary groups in Nicara-
gua and Africa, was a sworn enemy of
General Noriega, whom he publicly
called a drug dealer and killer several
times.
Talks With Draw Agents
According to Winston Spadafora, the
brother of the slain doctor, Dr. Spada
fora talked to agents of the United
States Drug Enforcement Administra.
tion in Costa Rica in the month before
his death, detailing evidence he said he
had about what he called General
Noriega's drug trafficking.
Several United States officials in
==r. have charged in recent
Nodega is a major drug
dealer and launderer of drug profits.
General Noriega has repeatedly denied
the charges, saying they are part of a
plot by his enemies to topple him.
After talking with American agents
last September, Dr. Spadafora re-
turned to Panama, traveling overland
and crossing the frontier by bus on
Sept. 13, according to his brother.
Three witnesses have sworn that they
saw Dr. Spadafora enter the country
and that he was then detained byy the
army near the town of Concepcion.
His beheaded and tortured body was
found the next morning, $t across the
border back inside Costa Rica. An au.
topsy indicated that he had been de.
capitated while he was still alive, ac
cording to his brother.
Investigation Closed
The Attorney General of Panama
closed his investigation into the killing
earlier this year, saying he had con-
cluded that Dr. Spadafora was killed
inside Costa Ytica and that there was no
evidence of army involvement.
But the Costa Rican Judicial Police
and Attorney General's office reached
a different conclusion. They inter-
viewed several witnesses on the border
who said two military Jeeps drove
across the Panama frontier early in the
morning. When the sun rose, peasants
found the decapitated body.
"All indications, suggest that Dr.
Hugo Spadafora was killed in Panama-
nian territory and his body thrown into
Costa Rican territory," the Costa
Rican police report says.
Mr. Sanchez Borb6n says four differ-
ent border-area sources have given
the
him details of the killing. He [Fall
sources told him that Dr. S ora
was tortured and beheaded my
soldiers at a schoolyard in the village of
Corozo, and that the body was then
dumped In Costa Rica.
Mr. Sanchez Borb6n says his pub.
lished accounts cannot be confirmed
because the witnesses he cites will not
talk to another reporter for fear of their
lives.
Dr. Spadafora's body had the symbol
"F-8" carved into it, according to his
brother. The some symbol was etched
on another opposition
Mauro Zuiliga, after he was beaten last
year by men he says were army sol-
diers. "F-8" was also written an a win.
dow of the airplane that returned Prssi,
dent Barletta to Panama last year, be,
fore he was dismissed, according to
friends of the est-Prusidsat.
Diplomats and Panamanian politica;
analysts say they think the "F-I" sync
bol is linked to an Army unit named
"F-7" formed in 1l01 to repress polis
cal opponents. I
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/09: CIA-RDP90-00965R000403790026-4