Translator Joran called him 'psychopath'

Joran van der Sloots human rights lawyer will include the comments Dutch translator Maurice Steins made about him on the internet, in his complaint against the Peruvian state.

by Joost van der Wegen, Metro Holland, Amsterdam

According to his New York lawyer, the fact that his interpretor called Joran a 'psychopath' on the website of a Peruvian newspaper three days before his confession, was harmful to his defence. Van der Sloot has allready put out a claim of 50 million euro's to the Peruvian and Chile governments, for alledged mistakes in his extradition and failing to provide him with lawyers and translators.

Metro newspaper last week reported on the translator seeming to have made commentaries on the website of the Peruvian newspaper El Comercio. This was prior to him being present at Joran's first interrogation, on the 6th of June 2010. That week Joran was taken into custody as a suspect, in the murder of the 21 year old Stephany Flores. The translator called Joran a 'psychopath', for who 'justice' would be served now. Three days after his remarks he had to translate for Joran. In that interrogation Joran confessed to the murder.

Joran's lawyer Aldo Cotrina will file a complaint this week with the Inter-American human rights commission, he tells Metro. In this he states Steins acted 'against' the intrest of Joran, having made his remarks: "Steins showed he was being bias by putting out his comments. Also, he was not able to diagnose Joran in being a psychopath as a professional. In effect, by making his remarks and by unjustly posing as an official translator, he has helped the Peruvian government in grilling my cliënt. He needs to pay for this."

Metro looked into the response to a letter of the Peruvian National Police to the Dutch Embassy. This shows the police still had not found an official Dutch interpretor on the 16th of June 2010, with Joran's trial starting on August 2. Ambassador Barend van der Heijden informed the police his embassy could not provide for the requested interpretor. He pointed out the suspects right to be heared in his own language, by international law, and Peru's responsibility to find an interpretor.

Peruvian sollicitor Sandro Monteblanco has been briefly working Joran's case. He has studied the leaked footage on internet of the confession of Joran. He states the Spanish of the Dutchman was 'poor': "Joran was fumbling about with bad Spanglish. Policemen finished his sentences or simply made them up for him. Prosector and police are under a lot of pressure in this case. Joran had a right to an official interpretor."

Read Dutch version on website Metro Holland