Guilty until proven innocent.

last updated 8 January 2015

Netherlands

Rudi Buis

Joran van der Sloot has been convicted for the murder of a missing American teen—by the U.S. media, that is, said Rudi Buis in the Netherlands’ Brabants Dagblad. Joran had the misfortune to be the last person known to have been with American teen Natalee Holloway before she vanished from the Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba in late May. He and two of his friends, brothers from Suriname, were arrested on suspicion of rape and murder. There was no evidence, and none of the young men was charged. But that didn’t stop American news anchors and commentators from speculating wildly about their possible guilt. “My son,” said Joran’s mother, Anita, “has been victimized by rumors and gossip.” Joran, now 18, was recently released after nearly three months in jail and has begun attending college. But his ordeal is not over. He’s not allowed to leave Dutch territory while the case is open. “We won’t be able to celebrate,” Anita said, “unless that girl turns up alive.”