ORANJESTAD/LIMA — Joran van der Sloot (24) was sentenced to 28 years imprisonment today for the murder and robbery of Stephany Flores (21). After he has served his sentence, he will be deported from Peru. In conformity with the demand and in addition to the prison sentence, Joran is also to pay the victim’s family 200,000 soles (approximately 130,000 florins). After the judgment, he indicated he might lodge an appeal against the verdict.By our reporter

Alex Laclé

His confession last week was considered by the court in Lima, Peru as ‘not sincere’ and could therefore not be used to considerably reduce the sentence demanded of 30 years. The judges ruled it was not a sincere confession because during the judicial investigation into the murder Joran had initially revoked his confession and wanted to have this declared invalid. Moreover, in that way Joran had not cooperated entirely with Justice. He had hoped that his confession would yield him a considerably lower sentence.

Just like the previous two sessions, the trial in the Lurigancho-prison against Joran started 30 minutes later than planned. This time the judges were late for unknown reasons. Joran wore a green T-shirt and jeans today but not a bullet-proof vest. Once again a large crowd had assembled outside to follow the process and argue for a long prison sentence. Arm in arm, the Flores-family had also waited intensely outside for the verdict. The press had given this case much attention again. For instance, this reporter from the Amigoe was phoned by a journalist from Japanese Morning News for a brief interview on the Joran case.

The reading of the verdict had taken approximately two hours, which was partly due to going over the entire police dossier again and an integral translation by a Dutch interpreter who clearly had great difficulty translating from Spanish. Also the shouting from the public assembled outside the prison had not contributed towards the audibility of the judge or the interpreter. At times, even Joran had shaken his head wondering what was being said. It was clear from Joran’s confession and the physical evidence that the judges found he was responsible for the murder of Stephany Flores and that he had killed her by strangulation and suffocation. Towards the end of the session when one of the judges read the verdict, Joran was requested to rise. By then he had been perspiring frequently and had emptied several glasses of water. Reasonably unaffected and shaking his head, Joran had finally heard the verdict of 28 years imprisonment. After a brief consultation with his lawyer, the judges said they were willing to keep his option to lodge an appeal open.