US prosecutors oppose Martinelli extradition stall

The Miami prosecutor’s office is opposing a request from the lawyers of former Panama president Ricardo  Martinelli for federal judge Edwin Torres to suspend action on the follow-up step to his extradition.

In a note sent to Marcos Jiménez and John Richard Byrne, attorneys for Martinelli, prosecutor Adam Fels explained that the standard does not provide opportunities for the certification  to remain in the judge’s office, given that the procedure indicates that it should be forwarded to the US  State Department, so that the Secretary Rex Tillerson can make a final decision.

Fels informed Jimenez and Byrne that the usual thing is that Department of State order the delivery of the fugitive two months after the judge has issued its certification. In the case of Martinelli, Torres granted the extradition on

August.31. That same day, Torres ordered  Martinelli kept in the Miami Federal Detention Center Miami, which he entered on June 12, after being captured by federal marshals near his mansion in Coral Gables.

The prosecutor told the lawyers that if Martinelli appeals the decision of Torres, the  State Department will immediately suspend the process until the appeal is resolved.

Martinelli’s defense asked the judge not to refer the case to the State Department before September 30, as it needs this time to prepare the appeal against extradition. In a motion delivered in June