(CNN) — A man has been indicted on charges of murder and manslaughter in the May 2005 disappearance of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway in Aruba, the suspect's attorney said.
Guido Wever, 18, will appear in court Tuesday in the Netherlands, said an assistant in the office of lawyer Gerard Spong.
Spong told the Dutch TV network NOS that his client was charged Wednesday.
"He is being questioned every day," the lawyer said Sunday, adding that authorities first interviewed his client shortly after Holloway, 18, disappeared on Aruba, a self-governing Dutch protectorate in the Caribbean off the Venezuelan coast.
Spong said his client, a casino worker on the island, has proclaimed his innocence and said he never met Holloway.
"He is now a suspect, and the prosecution in Aruba is wanting him very quickly," Spong said.
He said he would ask the court in The Hague to allow his client to remain in the Netherlands "because I think that we can prove or make sure that he is not guilty."
Spong said "some witnesses" have identified his client as a suspect, "but I think their statements — their testimonies — we can fight it easily."
Wever's parents said in a written statement that they are "appalled of this development."
The couple described themselves as divorced, but "very good friends," and said they "cannot believe that he could have anything to do with the case."
They said they hope "the girl" will be found alive and predicted "everything will come out all right" for their son, whom they described as "a caring person and very much liked by all others."
Though "justice should be done," they added, "We are all innocent until proven guilty. This counts also for our son."
The parents said they would hold the news media accountable for any statements made about their son without proof.
"We respect freedom of opinion and freedom of press, but not at our personal expense," they said, adding that they would not talk to the news media.
Wever is an acquaintance of Joran van der Sloot, who was once a focus of the probe into Holloway's disappearance, said a source close to the case.
Wever's arrest is the eighth in the case; all others detained, including van der Sloot, have been released.
Karen Janssen, chief prosecutor in Aruba, declined to comment on the latest arrest, citing the ongoing investigation.
Dutch authorities have cooperated with Aruba in the probe. Under Dutch law, police can hold a suspect for more than 100 days before filing charges.
Holloway, from the Birmingham, Alabama, suburb of Mountain Brook, was visiting Aruba last spring with about 100 high school classmates and several parent chaperones.
Holloway was last seen leaving a nightclub in the Aruba capital, Oranjestad, on May 30, 2005, with three men — van der Sloot, then 17, a Dutch national who is the son of an Aruban judge, and Surinamese brothers Deepak, 21, and Satish, 18, Kalpoe.
The three — who have maintained their innocence — were arrested the following month, but a judge ruled there was insufficient evidence to hold them and they were released.
The Alabama teen's disappearance prompted massive searches around the island, but a body has never been found.
In February, Holloway's parents, Dave Holloway and Beth Twitty, filed a lawsuit against van der Sloot. In court documents, the parents accuse him of "malicious, wanton and willful disregard of the rights, safety and well-being of the plaintiffs and their daughter, Natalee Holloway."
The parents asked for unspecified punitive damages from the young man and his father.
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