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 charged...good 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 2017.

He fled to Miami in January 2017 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.

美国一位联邦法官星期四同意将前巴拿马总统里卡多·马丁内利引渡回国，面对腐败和暗中监视政治对手的指控。

迈阿密的联邦法官托里斯在裁决书中写道：“存在合理依据，相信他受到的所有或是一些指控成立，为表示诚信，应将他交给提出引渡要求的国家。”

马丁内利的律师说，他们将提出上诉。最后是否将他引渡回巴拿马，决定权在国务院。

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