Dutch suspect in Natalee Holloway killing temporarily extradited to U.S.

The Peruvian government issued an executive order Wednesday allowing the main suspect in the 2005 disappearance of American student Natalee Holloway on the island of Aruba to be temporarily extradited to the United States.

The Peruvian Embassy in Washington told The Associated Press the order allows the extradition of Dutchman Joran van der Sloot to be charged with extortion and wire fraud, charges stemming from the Holloway case.

Van der Sloot served 28 years in a Peruvian prison. He was convicted of murdering 21-year-old Peruvian student Stephany Flores after meeting her in a Lima casino in 2010.

The murder happened five years to the day after Holloway disappeared during a high school graduation trip to the Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba, where Van der Sloot lived. He was last seen leaving the bar with her.

Holloway’s body was never found, and no charges were filed against Van der Sloot in the case. The judge then pronounced Holloway dead.

Prosecutors in the US said Van der Sloot received $25,000 in cash from Holloway’s family in exchange for a promise to lead him to the body in early 2010, before he left for Peru.

The treaty allows for temporary extradition

In a statement, Edgar Alfredo Rebaza, director of the International Judicial Cooperation and Extradition Office of the Peruvian National Prosecutor’s Office, said that while increasing cross-border transit, Peruvian institutions will ensure that criminals are brought to justice.

“We will continue to collaborate on legal issues with allies such as the United States, and many others with whom we have extradition treaties,” the statement said.

A 2001 agreement between Peru and the US allows suspects to be temporarily extradited to face trial in other countries. It requires the detainees to be “returned” after the judicial process is completed “in accordance with conditions to be determined” by the two countries.

Van der Sloot pleaded guilty in January 2012 to murder charges in the slaying of Flores.

Prosecutors accused him of killing Flores, a business student from a prominent family, to rob him of money he had won at a casino where he met.