Joran Van Der Sloot, Natalee Holloway Murder Suspect, Seen In Prison Video As Flores Family Fears 2012 Release

With his trial still looming, Dutch murder suspect Joran van der Sloot is making a virtual appearance by way of a video released from Peru's Castro Castro Prison.

The 24-year-old van der Sloot -- who is the prime suspect in the May 2010 murder of 21-year-old Peruvian student Stephany Flores -- is seen talking with a court official before leaving the high security zone of the prison.

The video comes on the heels of an announcement from a Peruvian lawyer who says the Dutch citizen could be freed by next year.

As Radio Netherlands is reporting, lawyer Edward Alvarez, who represents the family of Flores, says Peru’s justice authorities are proceeding too slowly with the case, and that under Peruvian law, suspects can only be held for up to 18 months without a verdict in their case.

"We are worried because Peruvian law says that if a suspect's trial doesn't begin within 18 months after his arrest, authorities are obligated to set the suspect free," Ricardo Flores, the dead woman's father, is quoted by CNN as saying. "We're asking that either the prosecutor file charges or that authorities remove her from this case and name somebody else."

Van der Sloot also remains the key suspect in the 2005 disappearance of American teenager Natalee Holloway on the Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba.

Watch the van der Sloot video below: