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Subscribe to RSSLIMA -- Peru's top court has ruled Dutch citizen Joran van der Sloot can be extradited to the United States in connection with the 2005 disappearance in Aruba of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway - but only after serving a 28-year Peruvian prison sentence for murder.
According to documents seen by Reuters, Peru's Supreme Court decided last week that Van der Sloot's extradition must wait until he serves out his sentence for the 2010 killing of a young Peruvian business student in Lima. The sentence handed down in January is under appeal.
Van der Sloot, 24, is wanted in the United States for extortion in connection with the unsolved Holloway case in which he was a prime suspect.
The prime suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway could face extradition to the United States from Peru, where he is currently serving a 28-year sentence for the murder of Stephanie Flores. TODAY's Natalie Morales reports.
Van der Sloot's lawyer Maximo Altez defended the extradition delay, saying it would be impossible for his client to get a fair trial in the U.S., Peru's El Comercio reported (Link in Spanish).
PhotoBlog: Trial of Van der Sloot begins in Peru as shamans peform a 'spiritual punishment'
"At this moment Joran van der Sloot will not have a fair trial in the United States because he has been satanized by the press, he is looked at like a demon," he told the newspaper.
However, van der Sloot could spend less than a decade behind bars in Peru because the country often frees prisoners for good behavior after serving a third of their terms. His lawyers want his sentence cut anyway.
US asks Peru to extradite van der Sloot
"We were surprised by how quickly the extradition request was heard," Altez told Reuters. "We think there is a lot of pressure from the U.S. government."
The U.S. embassy in Lima didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. It initiated a process to extradite Van der Sloot to face charges of extortion on January 30.
Prosecutors say van der Sloot, who was arrested but never charged over Holloway's disappearance, tried to get thousands of dollars in cash from her family in exchange for information on the whereabouts of her body.
Judge agrees Natalee Holloway is dead
Holloway was last seen during a graduation trip to the Caribbean island of Aruba.
Van der Sloot's lawyers have argued that post-traumatic stress from the Holloway inquiries led Van der Sloot to kill 21-year-old Stephany Flores in a Lima hotel room after he saw her looking at his laptop, which contained e-mails about the Aruba case. They had met playing poker in a Lima casino.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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To: BK-3328579
"Unfortunately, Van der Sloot (Slut) is not living the typical Peruvian "criminal sentence". He has sufficient money to keep him isolated from normal prison life, or he would be dead already. Photos have shown him ensconsced in a "private cell", with ample food, water, and even the occasional "girlfriend" smuggled in. Trust me...there is NOTHING you can't BUY in the Peruvian prisons. And, his Mother visits him on a regular basis, which is very rare in the Peru prisons. Money and his Fatehers' political clout have kept this filthy swine from justice."
This explains why his lawyer wants him to stay in Peru. If being in the US was better he'd be pushing for the extradition.
Just wait until Van Der Sloot has finished his term in Peru, THEN extradite him to the US. Don't give him a vacation from the Peruvian jail until he's an old man. Anyone know the mailing address of that Peruvian prison? I have $10 and an ice pick I can send down there for someone to use on Van Der Sloot.
How is this kid still alive?
With luck he'll rot and die there, sparing us the cost of housing him.
this guy is the 1st media made murder. lol. he wasn't a killer until the media made him into one.
Hopefully, Van der Sloot will not survive Peru's prison system.
It would be nice if the Flores family could impose some pressure that might keep him in jail in Peru for most of his sentence. This guy is dangerous and needs to be kept off the streets.
After reading about Peru's prisons, I bet ya a dollar he is dead in less then 28 years... Have fun, ya piece of fly maggot poop!
What a crock....let the SOB rot in a Peruvian prison at their expense
Peru has a solid case against...the US is just guessing.let him do his 28yrs...if he suvives then the US can have him.by then we will have forgotton why we wanted him anyway.
Why should he be brought to the US? That blonde died/disappeared in Aruba... their jurisdiction.
And please people, quit making such a big deal about her death. Some white girl goes missing on vacation and we're all bunched up? Really? We are all destined to die. In 150 years from now we will all be dead. Some die wearing diapers like they are an infant again, others die while on vacation.
Life is terminal.
"Van der Sloot's lawyers have argued that post-traumatic stress from the Holloway inquiries led Van der Sloot to kill 21-year-old Stephany Flores in a Lima hotel room after he saw her looking at his laptop, which contained e-mails about the Aruba case."
So he only killed the second girl because he was stressed out from killing the first girl. His lawyer must be so proud of himself for coming up with this defense theory.
The same would hold true if this mindless creep was being held in an American jail...
What people just dont seem to get here is that he will not spend 28 years in prison there - it will be more like 7 years with time off for good behavior etc. And I too listened to the press when he was first arrested in Peru and all the newspeople there said *dont worry he wont live long in the prisons in Peru* and like a fool I believed them. But a long time ago I read articles about the amount of money he has access to and how girls are brought into him all the time and how he is in with another murderer but they are in a cell where they have parties etc. all the time. He is making a joke of his time in Peru and we are being misled like crazy about how he is being treated there. He is not suffering in any way at all. And I believe the extortion charges were brought about to insure that if he didnt serve time in Peru then he would at least have to serve a couple of years in the American prison system. I believe they have a solid case and a renouned attorney to ensure that. And they fully expected he would have to serve his time in Peru before being extradited to the US. Remember this is a boy (cant really call him a man) of great priviledge with his dad having been a judge and having money and connections and I guess his mom has those now. What really bothers me is that the girl slain in Peru is from a priviledged family too. I was surprised that their influence on the case didnt hold much water to his sentence. All I know is that this guy is one sick puppydog and should never walk free again!!! But justice is sometime blind and that really applies to this case. Glad he isnt coming to Canada because he would definitely get 25 years and would be out in 7 and we dont have the death penalty. So in that way we are no better than Peru sadly.