FIRST ON FOX: The lawyer for Joran van der Sloot has again appealed his client’s upcoming temporary transfer to the U.S. with time running out.
Van der Sloot is the prime suspect in the May 2005 disappearance of Natalee Holloway in Aruba during a Mountain Brook High School, Alabama, senior trip. He’s facing federal charges relating to an alleged extortion scheme connected to her disappearance.
Maximo Altez, a lawyer for van der Sloot, told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that he has filed another appeal in what appears to be a last-ditch effort to stop his client from being temporarily transferred to the U.S., where he’ll face federal charges.
In the filing obtained by Fox News Digital, Altez writes that he’s filing the “Precautionary measure to avoid the extradition of [Joran van der Sloot].” The filing was presented to the court on Wednesday afternoon.
JORAN VAN DER SLOOT CASE: FBI PLANE LANDS IN PERU FOR TRANSFER OF PRIME NATALEE HOLLOWAY SUSPECT
Joran van der Sloot leaves Challapalca Prison in Peru. (APTN)
Altez also told Fox News Digital that the Peruvian court hasn’t yet denied his habeas corpus petition filed on Tuesday.
Time is running out as van der Sloot’s lawyer seeks to stop the transfer. Col. Carlos López Aeda, the chief of Interpol in Lima, Peru, told Fox News Digital earlier that the FBI will leave Lima with the Dutch national on Thursday.
The habeas corpus petition by Altez says his client wasn’t notified by Peruvian officials of the “temporary extradition” process that was ongoing against him, which Altez contends is a “serious constitutional violation.”
On Wednesday, a Peruvian court ordered the director of Ancón 1 Prison to notify van der Sloot of the upcoming transfer.
JORAN VAN DER SLOOT WILL LIKELY BE TRANSFERRED TO US DESPITE LAST-MINUTE EFFORTS: INTERPOL OFFICIAL
Joran van der Sloot of the Netherlands is escorted by officers at police headquarters in Lima, Peru, on June 5, 2010. Chile deported van der Sloot, who is wanted for the murder of 21-year-old Stephany Flores in Lima and has been linked to the 2005 disappearance of an American teenage girl in Aruba, to Peru. (Reuters/Pilar Olivares)
Van der Sloot signs papers at Challapalca Prison in Peru. (APTN)
Joran van der Sloot signs paperwork at Challapalca Prison. (APTN)
Van der Sloot is being held in a Peruvian prison for the murder of 21-year-old Stephany Flores in 2010. He was originally sentenced to 28 years in prison for the killing, but more time was added because of a drug smuggling scandal he was involved in while in jail.
Van der Sloot is facing charges of extortion and wire fraud in the U.S. after he allegedly tried to sell Beth Holloway, Natalee’s mother, information regarding the location of her daughter’s body in March 2010.
Federal prosecutors say van der Sloot asked for $250,000 — $25,000 upfront for the information and the rest to be paid out when the body of Natalee Holloway was positively identified.
Natalee Holloway was last seen alive in Aruba while on a Mountain Brook, Alabam, high school senior trip. (Federal Bureau of Investigation)
However, van der Sloot lied to Beth Holloway’s lawyer, John Q. Kelly, about where her daughter’s remains were located, according to American prosecutors.
George Patriot Seymore, a spokesperson for Beth Holloway, said in a Monday statement that “Beth Holloway is pleased that Joran van der Sloot will soon be temporarily extradited to the United States to face justice for his crimes, finally getting justice for Natalee.”
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Beth Holloway, mother of Natalee Holloway, speaks during the opening of the Natalee Holloway Resource Center (NHRC) at the National Museum of Crime & Punishment in Washington, D.C., on June 8, 2010. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
In an earlier statement when the Peruvian court announced the transfer of van der Sloot, Beth Holloway said this gives a chance for justice to finally be served.
“I was blessed to have had Natalee in my life for 18 years, and as of this month, I have been without her for exactly 18 years. She would be 36 years old now,” Beth Holloway said. “It has been a very long and painful journey, but the persistence of many is going to pay off. Together, we are finally getting justice for Natalee.”
