The family of Stephany Flores have decided to accept the sentenced handed down on the murderer of their daughter - Joran van der Sloot.

After the 28 year sentence was passed, their lawyer Edward Elvarez, said the sentence “the penalty was within the prescribed margins”. The Public Prosecution had demanded 30 years in prison for the murder and robbery of the 21-year-old Peruvian woman.

The father of Stephany Flores, millionaire Ricardo Flores, complained to the press that Van der Sloot enjoyed luxury in the Lima prison Castro Castro. A spokesperson for the prison authorities told Dutch press agency ANP that the authorities will decide whether Van der Sloot will be transferred to a different prison and whether he will be kept in a cell on his own.

Van der Sloot could be released after sitting out just one third of his sentence for good behaviour. Under Peruvian rules detainees can earn their freedom by working or studying. For every two days study or work, they earn one day off their sentence. Van der Sloot says he will appeal the sentence. With a reduction for the time he has spent on remand, Van der Sloot is currently due to leave prison in 2038.

The Peruvian Foreign Minister says the United States has not requested the extradition of Van der Sloot. A court in Alabama has charged him with extortion of Natalee Holloway’s mother. He is accused of asking money in exchange for information on the whereabouts of her body. Natalee Holloway went missing in May 2005, exactly five years before the murder of Stephany Flores. Her body has never been found, but court in Alabama declared her dead only yesterday.

(nc)

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