(CNN) — Peru’s National Correctional Institution has denied ABC News reports that Joran van der Sloot – the prime suspect in the 2005 disappearance of American teenager Natalee Holloway – was “severely” beaten in a Peruvian prison.
In a statement sent to CNNE on Monday, a spokesman for Peru’s National Penitentiary Institute said that “He [Van der Sloot] was not hit. He wasn’t attacked.”
The spokesman had no further comment.
On Monday, ABC News reported that Van der Sloot’s lawyer, Máximo Altez, said he was “severely beaten” in prison and that “he is asking the Peruvian Justice Ministry to transfer him to another prison as soon as possible.” “. .
CNN has reached out to Altez for comment and has not yet received a response.
