‘More to Anni’s murder than meets the eye’

06-10-14 . Cape Town. Murder accused Shrien Dewani in the Western Cape High Court . Picture Brenton Geach

06-10-14 . Cape Town. Murder accused Shrien Dewani in the Western Cape High Court . Picture Brenton Geach

Published Nov 24, 2014

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Cape Town - There’s more to the murder of Swedish honeymooner Anni Hindocha than what the Western Cape High Court has heard, a senior advocate has argued, suggesting that the truth behind her killing may never emerge.

“Where do the lies end and where does the truth begin,” Francois van Zyl SC asked when he presented argument before Deputy Judge President Jeanette Traverso on Monday.

Van Zyl is representing British businessman Shrien Dewani, who stands accused of orchestrating her murder.

Dewani is applying for his discharge and acquittal in terms of section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act - an application which is usually brought at the end of the State's case.

It is his argument that the State has not made out a case for him to meet or answer to.

If the application is granted Dewani will be a free man, but if the application is refused he will have to decide whether or not to testify in his defence.

Throughout the day, Van Zyl summed up the evidence before the court, saying that the State's case rests solely on the testimony of taxi driver Zola Tongo.

Hotel receptionist Monde Mbolombo, who recruited hitman Mziwamadoda Qwabe, and Qwabe were called as witnesses to corroborate Tongo's version, he said.

However, Van Zyl pointed out that Tongo lied throughout his testimony, so much so that no one knew which version to believe.

Mbolombo admitted that he lied previously and ballistics and fingerprint evidence contradicted the version Qwabe had put before the court, he argued.

On the other hand, the uncontested evidence before the court fit in with the defence's suggestion that Anni was shot by accident during a struggle, and that she was supposed to be kidnapped for ransom, he said.

Earlier in the trial the defence said one of Tongo's former fellow inmates told the defence that Tongo confessed that Anni was supposed to be taken hostage and was shot during a struggle when one of the men wanted to rape her.

“It is too much of a coincidence,” Van Zyl told the court.

The case continues on Tuesday when the State presents it's argument.

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