Martinelli ends fight against extradition

PANAMA’S former president Ricardo Martinelli who has been behind bars in  Miami since June 12 last year has decided to forego his appeal process in an Atlanta court and to allow his extradition process to Panama to move forward.

He sent the decision in  a handwritten note to his lawyer   Sidney Sitton, who on Wednesday, May 23  confirmed that his client will skip  the  process  filed with the Federal Court of Appeals of the 11th US  Circuit, based in Atlanta, against the decision of Judge Marcia Cooke of the Southern District Court of Florida, that on January 23, at a  Miami hearing  denied a habeas corpus in favor of Martinelli.

The extradition will now depend on the US State  Department. His  Extraditability has already been certified by Judge Edwin Torres, also from the Southern District Court on August 31, 2017, and subsequently endorsed by  Judge Cooke, by denying the habeas corpus, five months ago.

The wish of Martinelli to accept the extradition the process is contained in a letter he signed in the Federal Detention Center of Miami, where he has been since his arrest near his  Coral Gables Mansion, nearly a year ago.

Sitton confirmed the authenticity of the note, which is addressed to him and Martinelli spokesman Luis Eduardo Camacho.

His return to face charges of illegal interception of messages and embezzlement, will not be the celebratory cross-country parade that he had promised via Twitter account before his arrest. Meanwhile, members of his former cabinet and “Zero Circle” are appearing in droves to face justice in Panama Courtrooms.