Shrien Dewani 'unfit to stand trial', says barrister

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Parent Category: Africa and The World

Category: Law & Justice

Created on Monday, 18 July 2011 00:00

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Shrien Dewani 'unfit to stand trial', says barrister

Honeymoon murder suspect facing extradition to South Africa is deemed too 'fragile' to face British court

Steven Morris

A British man accused of arranging for his wife to be murdered while they were on honeymoon in South Africa would be considered unfit to stand trial if he was facing a British court, his extradition hearing has been told.

Shrien Dewani faces being sent back to South Africa to be put on trial for allegedly conspiring to kill his wife, Anni, in a fake carjacking in Cape Town. However, he has been diagnosed as suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder and his barrister, Clare Montgomery QC, argued that if he was facing domestic proceedings he would be "simply unfit to stand trial".

Dewani, who is being treated in a medium secure hospital, was excused from staying in court to hear proceedings after Montgomery claimed it would be "inhuman" to force him to remain.

Montgomery said Dewani had had to begin his journey from the Fromeside hospital in Bristol to Woolwich crown court in east London, where the extradition hearing is taking place, at 4am every morning he was required to appear. Travelling by car, being exposed to loud noises and the presence of other people exacerbated his condition, Montgomery said. Dewani sat in the dock looking dishevelled and confused as Montgomery asked for him to be allowed to leave.

District judge Howard Riddle accepted that Dewani's health was "fragile" and agreed that in the "exceptional" circumstances he could be excused from attending. Dewani was led from the dock looking unsteady on his feet and disoriented.

Anni Dewani, 28, was shot dead in the back of a taxi in Cape Town on 13 November after a hijacking alleged to have been staged by Dewani and three other men.

Dewani, from Bristol, and his family, who run a successful string of care homes, deny strongly he had any involvement in his wife's death. But the South African authorities insist that he should return to Cape Town to be put on trial.

Over the next three days Judge Riddle is to hear claims from Dewani's lawyers that he is too ill to be extradited. Dewani's team is also claiming that his human rights would be infringed if he were sent back because he would not receive the treatment he needed in South Africa's prisons as he awaited trial and if he was convicted of the crime.

Judge Deon Hurter Van Zyl, who heads an independent inspectorate that monitors conditions in South African prisons, was asked by Montgomery about gang and sexual violence. She suggested to him that most prisoners were sexually assaulted even before they actually reached prison in holding cells, police stations and vehicles as part of "initiation" rites.

Van Zyl accepted there were many problems within the system and staff lacked pride, commitment and dedication. He also told the court inmates with mental health conditions mixed with other prisoners and there were not sufficient facilities for dealing with those who suffered from psychiatric problems.

At an earlier stage of the hearing in May, the court was told Dewani would be particularly vulnerable to attacks in prison because of his good looks, the fact that a woman was his alleged victim and allegations – denied by his family – that he is gay.

The South African authorities have stipulated which prisons Dewani would be held in while awaiting trial and if convicted and insist he would be safe and cared for. But the court has also heard that future governments would not be bound by any promises made now.

Also at the May hearing, the South African authorities revealed they had a witness who would claim that seven months before the killing Dewani had said he "needed to find a way out" of the marriage. The witness claimed Dewani had said he would be disowned by his family if he broke off the engagement with Anni.

Dewani's family insist the marriage was a happy one.

Dewani is wanted for kidnapping, robbery with aggravated circumstances, conspiracy to commit murder and obstructing the administration of justice. The extradition hearing is being heard by Westminster magistrates, sitting at Woolwich crown court.


Source: The Guardian UK, 18 July 2011