MOSCOW, May 18 (RIA Novosti) - Russian citizen Irina Belenkaya has lost her appeal in a Hungarian court against being extradited to France to stand trial for kidnapping her daughter, her lawyer said on Monday.
Belenkaya is in detention in Hungary, where she was caught trying to take her daughter Elise Andre across the border into Ukraine. Elise has returned to France with her father, Jean-Michel Andre. Belenkaya is expected to be extradited within 10 days.
"This [rejection of the appeal] was a predictable decision as Irina said she wants to appear before the French court as soon as possible," lawyer Anatoly Kucherena said.
Belenkaya's Hungarian lawyer, Robert Fridman, explained that Belenkaya was eager to go to France as she could do there "much more for her daughter than in Hungarian jail."
The French court is looking at three options in Belenkaya case: to release her; to release her under judicial control, meaning that she will have to appear at police station regularly; or to jail her.
Kucherena has raised the hope that the French father would withdraw lawsuit against Belenkaya and sign the amicable agreement, which has been inked by his Russian wife.
"As he has promised, I hope," the lawyer said.
Belenkaya's French lawyers will also try to seek "light punishment" for her, Fridman said.
The couple has been embroiled in a bitter custody battle resulting in Elise being "kidnapped" back and forth three times in the past two years. Andre was awarded custody by a French court after their divorce in 2007.
