Murder suspect Joran van der Sloot files $10 million lawsuit against South American authorities–and murder victim’s father

Eric Pfeiffer
·Reporter

Joran van der Sloot, the man still suspected of murdering disappeared American student Natalee Holloway in Aruba, has filed a lawsuit against authorities with the Chilean and Peruvian government as well as Richard Flores, the father of a second murder victim whom van der Sloot is suspected of slaying. Van der Sloot's suit, which seeks $10 million in damages, alleges that the defendants violated his human rights as he was investigated for the murder of Stephany Flores.

The 24-year-old van der Sloot is alleging that Chilean authorities violated his rights during his forcible extradition from Chile to Peru to face murder charges in the May 30 killing of Flores, a 21-year-old Peruvian business student, who was found dead in van der Sloot's hotel room in Lima on June 2, 2010.

Van der Sloot has been charged with first-degree murder and robbery in the Flores case after his prior indictment by the U.S. government on charges of attempting to extort $250,000 from Holloway's family in exchange for information on her death and the alleged location of her body.

The Huffington Post's David Lohr explains the charges in van der Sloot's lawsuit:

The lawsuit alleges there was "pressure from the then-President of the Republic Alan Garcia Perez" to have him extradited. The suit further argues that police in Chile denied van der Sloot access to a telephone or computer so he could communicate with his family and alleges he was "deprived of his right to counsel."

In addition to Perez, the lawsuit implicates former Peruvian Minister of Interior Octavio Salazar, former police generals Miguel Hidalgo and Cesar Guardia, and Ricardo Flores, the father of murder victim Stephany Flores.

Peruvian officials claim van der Sloot made a full confession to the murder of Flores, claiming he broke her neck after catching her using his computer to research his involvement in the Holloway murder case. Van der Sloot later retracted the confession, saying it was made under duress.

"I did not want to do it," van der Sloot allegedly said about the attack. "The girl intruded into my private life. ... We argued, and she tried to escape. I grabbed her by the neck, and I hit her."

A confidant of the van der Sloot family claimed yesterday that Joran was suffering from post traumatic stress at the time of Flores' murder.

The Peruvian government dismissed an earlier lawsuit from van der Sloot, who claimed he was arrested without a warrant and not given access to a translator while being pressured to confess to Flores' murder. "All this with the intention of pressuring me to accuse [me] of homicide," van der Sloot said in court documents.

Van der Sloot faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted, with his trial set to start just after the New Year on Jan. 6.

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