The lawyer for the Dutch prisoner Joran Van der Sloot announced on Monday that he will file an appeal before a judicial court in Lima to prevent the extradition of his client to the United States, scheduled for Thursday, so that he can be prosecuted for a related case. to the disappearance of a young American.
“He has changed his mind and does not want to be extradited to the United States; He was visited today by his embassy (Netherlands), which made him see the mistake he was making by being extradited without due process, “said his lawyer Máximo Altez in an interview with international media. .
The prisoner is in a Lima jail awaiting his extradition to the United States on Thursday, where he will be prosecuted for a case linked to the disappearance of a young American woman in 2005, Peruvian prison authorities reported Monday. He is serving time for the murder of another woman that happened five years later.
But the defense lawyer explained in the middle of the afternoon on Monday, about his client’s change of heart, that “he has realized that if he travels to the United States he will not have a fair trial.” He claimed that he will be tried by a jury and that the jury is made up of ordinary people, “who are influenced by the newspapers.” In his opinion, “there is currently a media lynching against him.”
Altez added that he will present a “habeas corpus” against the president of Peru, Dina Boluarte, against the president of the Council of Ministers, Alberto Otárola, and against the Minister of Justice, Daniel Maurate. In parallel, Altez assured, the embassy of the Netherlands is filing a complaint with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the lack of due process.
The Associated Press called the Dutch embassy in Lima and the Peruvian Justice Ministry for comment without immediate response. The Peruvian Foreign Ministry responded that “they have not received any complaint from the Netherlands regarding the case.”
The defender of the implicated commented that the processes of “habeas corpus” must be resolved in 24 hours, “but in practice that does not happen”, for which he assured that all efforts will be made “to avoid this transfer”.
Earlier Monday, the head of the National Penitentiary Institute (INPE), the state agency that administers Peruvian prisons, Javier Llaque, specified by telephone to The Associated Press that Van der Sloot will be handed over to the international police Interpol “at first morning time” on Thursday and then will be transferred to the main airport in Lima, from where it will be sent to the United States.
The suspect, who is already serving a 28-year sentence for the murder of another woman -of Peruvian nationality- in 2010, was transferred on Saturday from the Andean prison of Challapalca -in the Tacna region- to the Ancón I prison in the capital in the middle of strict security measures. Van der Sloot’s lawyer told the AP on Sunday that the change in prison was confirmed Sunday in a call by Van der Sloot’s wife.
The Dutch prisoner married a Peruvian accountant in 2014 inside the prison.
Regarding the inmate’s state of health, the lawyer emphasized that “he is fine” and that an examination was carried out before his release from the Challapalca prison.
As Altez said before Van der Sloot’s change of intent, “the only thing left is to get him on the plane” to comply with the temporary extradition that may be extended for a maximum of two years, as initially agreed.
In May, the Peruvian Supreme Court authorized the temporary extradition of the prisoner to the United States, where he is accused of trying to extort the family of the young American Natalee Holloway, who disappeared in 2005 on the Caribbean island of Aruba during a school trip.
The victim, who was 18 years old at the time, was last seen outside a bar accompanied by Van der Sloot.
According to the Alabama State Attorney’s Office, in 2010, and before traveling to Peru, Van der Sloot requested $25,000 from Holloway’s relatives for information on where she was buried.
The body of the American was not located and she was officially declared dead by a judge. There are no charges in Holloway’s death.