Shrien Dewani can be extradited to South Africa to stand trial over the murder of his wife Anni while on honeymoon, a judge has ruled.
Senior District Judge Howard Riddle made the ruling in the Belmarsh Magistrate’s Court this morning. The judgment has been referred to the UK Home Secretary for approval, reports have said.
The public gallery of the London court was filled to the brim this morning as members of the Dewani and Hindocha families waited in tense anticipation for the verdict.
A tight security cordon was thrown around courtroom three with a security guard standing sentry to the court doors, vetting anyone wanting to get in.
Shrien Dewani was led into the court room this morning shortly before 10am UK time assisted by two carers from the Fromeside Mental Clinic, where he is being kept under Britain's Mental Health Act.
The court orderly instructed the guards watching Dewani to sit apart from him as the magistrate did not want Dewani to feel like he is “being smothered”.
The British businessman is suspected of being the mastermind behind the murder of his wife, Anni Hindocha. She was shot and killed in Gugulethu while the couple were on honeymoon.
The South African government wants Dewani to stand trial alongside the two alleged hit men, Mziwamadoda Qwabe and Xolile Mngeni, who are in police custody.
Taxi driver Zola Tongo, who says Dewani paid him R15 000 to organise the hit on his wife, has been sentenced, under a plea agreement with the State, to 18 years for his part in the crime.
Dewani denies murdering his wife but had been fighting the extradition attempt on the basis that he is unlikely to get a fair trial in South Africa and that prison conditions are harsh and inhumane.
The South African government had, however, assured the court that Dewani would be well looked after if extradited. If sent to a prison, he is likely to be kept in a hospital wing, in a single cell. Another option was for him to be treated at Valkenberg Psychiatric Hospital in Cape Town. - IOL