Former New York mayor Guiliani to fight Noriega game lawsuit

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said he would defend video games company Activision Blizzard in a lawsuit filed by former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega over his depiction in Call of Duty: Black Ops II.

As co-counsel, Giuliani will defend Activision on the grounds that Noriega's portrayal in the game is protected under the right to free speech.

"What's astonishing is that Manuel Noriega, a notorious dictator who is in prison for the heinous crimes he committed, is upset about being portrayed as a criminal and enemy of the state," Giuliani said in a statement. "Quite simply, it's absurd."

Noriega, 80, filed the lawsuit in July in Los Angeles Superior Court, saying the company was using his image in the game without his permission.

Seeking unspecified damages, Noriega said Activision had portrayed him as "the culprit of numerous fictional heinous crimes," including kidnapping and murder, to heighten the game's realism and boost sales.

Activision said in a statement that the stories in the Call of Duty franchise were based on actual events. Noriega's lawsuit, it said, would have a chilling effect on all sorts of movies and works of art that portray historical and political figures.