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Joran Van der Sloot: Prison Stabbing Claim Disputed

Joran Van der Sloot's wife says he has been tortured and stabbed since his transfer to the hellhole known as Challapalca prison in Peru. Prison authorities claim she's lying. His lawyer says a prosecutor will investigate.

Joran was transferred there after a warden said Joran threatened him after taking his cell phone away. Joran said it was the warden who gave him the cell phone and was trying to set him up.

Joran's wife says the guards torture the prisoners and the other prisoners want to kill Joran because it would bring world-wide attention to the abysmal conditions of the prison, which could lead to the prison's closing.

Inmates are entitled to humane treatment. This prison has been notorious for human rights violations for years (report here.) Here's a 2013 State Department report on Peru's prisons.

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  • Display: Sort:
    Wife ? (none / 0) (#1)
    by ScottW714 on Tue Nov 04, 2014 at 12:44:54 PM EST
    I need to investigate.

    Not only is he married, he has a kid on the way and according to THIS article, his wife can visit him in his cell.

    The Peruvian government has also agreed to extradite to the US when he is eligible for release in 2038.

    Conditions are so horrendous, he not only met and married his wife there, she visits his cell in such a way that she is pregnant.  Not the image that comes to mind when I think of deplorable prison conditions.

    Tthat all happened at a different prison (5.00 / 1) (#2)
    by oculus on Tue Nov 04, 2014 at 01:30:14 PM EST
    than the one in which he is currently housed. I suppose it was a country club.

    Peruvian spokesperson for thecurrent prison stated the knife wounds may have been self-inflicted. Clean cuts. No jagged edges.

    Parent

    That prison is at more than 15,000' and (none / 0) (#3)
    by fishcamp on Wed Nov 05, 2014 at 04:45:20 PM EST
    is on the edge of the Atacama Desert, considered the driest desert in the world.  Years ago I drove across the altiplano from Cuzco to Puno and on down to Arequipa, Peru. The city of Puno is on the western edge of Lake Titicaca and is extremely desolate and windy.  The Challapaica Prison is only 200 Kilometers from Puno.  I remember stopping at the highest pass on that highway, 17,000' and jogging up a little hill to take a photo.  I was immediately out of breath, and I had been living at 8,000' and skiing at 12,000' for years.  To be imprisoned, and work there is truly cruel and unusual punishment.  I don't doubt Van der Sloot inflicted the knife wounds upon himself to get out of there, to an infirmary at a lower altitude.  

    I've been to Puno. Piece of cake, given (none / 0) (#4)
    by oculus on Wed Nov 05, 2014 at 11:11:03 PM EST
    that, on the advice of an ex-pat Peruvian travel agent, we flew from sea level to La Paz. Not a good idea.  

    Van der Sloot should ask his wife to get him some Diamox.

    Parent

    Yes, but La Paz and Puno (none / 0) (#5)
    by fishcamp on Thu Nov 06, 2014 at 08:09:42 AM EST
    are 3,190' lower in altitude than that prison, which is a big difference in that thin air.  Did you go for a ride in those strange reed canoes, to visit the Uros Indians on their floating island homes?

    Parent
    We went by boat to the (none / 0) (#6)
    by oculus on Thu Nov 06, 2014 at 09:48:08 AM EST
    floating village. And also to an island with many steps up to a beautiful village known for its weavers.

    Parent