Honeymoon murder suspect Shrien Dewani is expected to face an extradition hearing in the UK in about three months.
And he needs to be present in court for this, even if he is ill. Court proceedings relating to Dewani’s extradition back to South Africa were yesterday held in a UK court.
But Dewani, 31, suspected of having masterminded his wife Anni Dewani’s killing on November 13 in Gugulethu, was not in court.
Defence lawyer Julian Knowles said he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. However, Judge Howard Riddle rejected the claim of illness as a reason for Dewani’s absence, despite having received a letter from a psychiatrist which said it would be “detrimental” to Dewani’s health if he were to appear in court.
Judge Riddle said Dewani would be required to attend his next court hearing on March 23. His full extradition hearing was expected to go ahead on May 3. It was expected to last three days.
Prosecution lawyer Ben Watson said the extradition case would deal with prison conditions in South Africa, whether Dewani would get a fair trial and his physical and mental condition.
An online petition calling for a British court to order that Dewani be extradited had been signed by 4 037 people from around the world by yesterday.
Last week Dewani’s British publicist, Max Clifford, said his client was ill as a result of grief and stress, and had lost 10kg.
On Monday, Anni Dewani’s father, Vinod Hindocha, told the Cape Times he did not believe Dewani was ill, but was instead pretending in order to delay court proceedings.
Hindocha said he planned to return to South Africa later this month and attend court proceedings involving Mziwamadoda Qwabe and Xolile Mngeni, the two suspected hitmen in the case.
Last week, when Qwabe had applied for bail in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court, the case’s investigating officer Paul Hendrikse’s affidavit had been read out.
In it, Hendrikse said Qwabe had confessed to his role in the murder and his confession corroborated information revealed when chauffeur Zola Robert Tongo had appeared in the Western Cape High Court about two months ago.
Tongo, who had driven the Dewanis around while they were in Cape Town, had entered into a plea and sentencing agreement with the State.
In court documents, he said Dewani had approached him and asked him to help set up his wife’s killing.
Tongo, who was sentenced to 18 years in jail for his role in the murder, said Dewani had offered R15 000 for this.
Qwabe and Mngeni are expected to appear in court together on February 25. - Cape Times