Joran van der Sloot video offers glimpse inside Peruvian prison

LIMA, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- Joran van der Sloot has released a video offering a glimpse of his life in a Peruvian prison claiming he shot the video "for security."

Van der Sloot, 27, was convicted of the murder of Peruvian woman Stephany Flores, for which he is serving a 28-year sentence. He is also the prime suspect in the 2005 disappearance of American teen Natalee Holloway in Aruba.

The Dutch citizen was transferred last month from a Lima-area prison to a maximum security facility in Challapalca, a remote area high in the Andes mountains, after allegedly fighting with another inmate then threatening to kill a prison guard. Then, last week, he went on a hunger strike to protest conditions in the prison. Before his transfer, van der Sloot recorded a video on a cell phone he says was given to him by the warden

"I don't know why, but I suspect that it was to set a trap for me," he said, in a portion of the video broadcast on Peruvian television on Sunday.

"I am making this video for my own security," he said. "Because the warden gave me this phone. I don't know why."

Van der Sloot's time in maximum security will depend on his behavior, Inpe prisons administration said. Last month, he married his pregnant Peruvian girlfriend in a ceremony at the Lima prison. His lawyers are citing his impending fatherhood in pleading for him to be returned to a more accessible location.

A son of Dutch judge serving in Aruba, van der Sloot was the last person seen with Holloway. Van der Sloot allegedly took $25,000 from her mother to lead her to the body, which has never been found.

He is due to be extradited to the U.S. in 26 years, when his Peruvian sentence ends, to face charges he defrauded and extorted Holloway's mother.