Joran van der Sloot will not oppose his extradition from Peru to the United States. The Dutchman is suspected of extortion and fraud in the United States.
Van der Sloot’s lawyer, Maximo Altes, admitted his client took the money but believes he was set up. He believes van der Sloot has been abused because of the psychological problems he suffers from. He told this news agency on Thursday AP.
Altes calls the news of the Dutch deportation a “smoke screen” to distract from the alleged economic and political problems in Peru.
On May 11, it was announced that the South American country had agreed to temporarily extradite the 35-year-old Dutchman. He is serving a 28-year sentence for the 2010 murder of Peruvian Stephanie Flores.
According to the US Department of Justice, that same year Van der Sloot accepted $25,000 from Natalee Hallaway’s mother. In return, he takes her to Natalie’s body. It has not been discovered till date
American Natalee Holloway (18) disappeared without a trace in May 2005 while on holiday with friends in Aruba. She was last seen with three boys, including van der Sloot, who was seventeen at the time. He was the prime suspect in her disappearance, but his connection was never proven.
Handed over to the US within a fortnight
Van der Sloot is currently being held in the high-security Sallapalka prison at an altitude of 4,600 meters in the Andes. His lawyer expects van der Sloot to be extradited within a fortnight.
First you have to go to Lima, the capital of Peru for a medical examination. Dutch will later be picked up by the US Marshals Services, the US federal police service. It is not yet clear whether van der Sloot will be flown to the United States on a special flight or on a scheduled flight.
A 2001 treaty between Peru and the United States allows for the temporary extradition of a suspect to be tried in another country. An attorney from the state of Alabama has now been assigned to van der Sloot.
According to Altes, van der Sloot will stay in the United States for up to two years and then return to Peru to serve the remainder of his sentence.