Longest imprisonment for a leader after being removed from power

Former Panamanian General and “Maximum Leader” Manuel Noriega (the de facto ruler of Panama from 1983 to 1989) has been imprisoned since his capture by US military forces on 4 January 1990, a tally of 22 years 2 months, as of 4 March 2012. Designated as Prisoner #38699-079, Noriega was originally sentenced to 40 years, later reduced to 30 and subsequently reduced again to 17 years for good behaviour. That sentence was completed on 9 September 2007 but he remained in US custody pending his extradition to France, where he had been tried and convicted in absentia for money laundering. He was sent to France on 26 April 2010, where he took up residence at the infamous Le Sante Prison in Paris. Noriega was subject to extradition once more as Panama successfully sought his return so that he could be tried for violating human rights there. He was flown to Panama on 11 December 2011 and placed in El Renacer prison, only to be moved to the Hospital Santo Tomas in Panama City on 5 February 2012 for treatment for a brain haemorrhage and high blood pressure. At 78 years of age, Noriega is expected to live out his days without freedom - in custody, in hospital or behind bars. In a classic case of odd political bedfellows, Noriega had actually been a paid CIA informant before and during his time in power but fell out of favour with Washington; this resulted in the US invading Panama on 20 December 1989 during what was called “Operation Nifty Package”, in which Noriega was sought for his role in drug trafficking (specifically, his involvement with the Medellin Cartel, the Colombian drug ring) and money laundering. In another bizarre turn of events, following the invasion, Noriega took refuge in the Vatican’s Embassy in Panama City only to surrender 10 days later on 4 January 1990 after American troops had spent several days relentlessly and ceaselessly blasting heavy metal music outside the Apostolic Nunciature, leading him to give himself up. He was flown to Miami, tried and convicted over his part in smuggling drugs into the United States.