美國法官批准引渡前巴拿馬總統

A U.S. federal judge Thursday approved the extradition of former Panamanian president Ricardo Martinelli to face charges of corruption and spying on his political opponents.

Judge Edwin Torres in Miami wrote that there are "reasonable grounds to suppose him guilty of all or some of the offenses faith to the demanding government requires his surrender."

Martinelli's lawyers say they will appeal. It is up to the State Department to decide if he will be sent back to Panama.

Martinelli was president of the South American country from 2009 until 2014.

He fled to Miami in January 2015 just days before the Panamanian Supreme Court opened a corruption investigation against him. U.S. authorities arrested him in June.

Martinelli, a wealthy supermarket magnate, is suspected of embezzling millions of dollars from a public school lunch program for poor children and using that money to set up equipment to spy on his political opponents.

He has denied the charges, calling them politically motivated.美國一位聯邦法官星期四同意將前巴拿馬總統裏卡多·馬丁內利引渡回國，面對腐敗和暗中監視政治對手的指控。

邁阿密的聯邦法官托裏斯在裁決書中寫道：“存在合理依據，相信他受到的所有或是一些指控成立，爲表示誠信，應將他交給提出引渡要求的國家。”

馬丁內利的律師說，他們將提出上訴。最後是否將他引渡回巴拿馬，決定權在國務院。
馬丁內利2009年到2014年擔任巴拿馬總統。

他於2015年1月逃到邁阿密，幾天後巴拿馬最高法院就對他的腐敗指控展開的調查。美國有關當局今年6月對他實施了逮捕。

馬丁內利是一個富有的超市巨頭。他被懷疑挪用公立學校爲窮孩子提供午餐的數百萬美元經費，用來購置儀器，暗中監視他的政治對手。

馬丁內利對指控予以否認，說這些指控帶有政治動機。