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SWEDISH HONEYMOONER SLAYING

CRIME

Husband of slain Swedish bride out on bail

A British businessman wanted in South Africa over the murder of his Swedish bride on their honeymoon was granted bail at the High Court in London on Friday.

Husband of slain Swedish bride out on bail

South Africa wants to extradite 30-year-old Shrien Dewani on suspicion of paying to have his wife Anni, a native of Mariestad in central Sweden, killed in a carjacking during their honeymoon in Cape Town.

Lawyers for the South African authorities had argued that there were substantial grounds for suspecting Dewani would not surrender for an extradition hearing later this month were he allowed bail.

But High Court judge Duncan Ouseley disagreed and allowed his application.

Dewani strongly denies any involvement in the murder and told the earlier court hearing in London that he did not agree to the extradition.

He had been held at Wandsworth Prison in south London since appearing Wednesday at City of Westminster Magistrates Court on an extradition warrant.

The care home owner had handed himself in to a police station in Bristol, southwest England, on Tuesday.

His release from custody was stringent bail conditions, including the payment of a £250,000 ($400,000) cash surety.

His 28-year-old wife was killed on November 13th after the couple’s taxi was reportedly hijacked outside Cape Town.

In a South African court on Tuesday, taxi driver Zola Tongo said he was offered 15,000 rand ($2,175) by Dewani to kill his wife.

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CRIME

Nordic justice ministers meet tech giants on gangs using apps to hire ‘child soldiers’

The justice ministers of Denmark, Sweden and Norway are to meet representatives of the tech giants Google, Meta, Snapchat and TikTok, to discuss how to stop their platforms being used by gang criminals in the region.

Nordic justice ministers meet tech giants on gangs using apps to hire 'child soldiers'

Denmark’s justice minister, Peter Hummelgaard, said in a press release that he hoped to use the meeting on Friday afternoon to discuss how to stop social media and messaging apps being used by gang criminals, who Danish police revealed earlier this year were using them to recruit so-called “child soldiers” to carry out gang killings.  

“We have seen many examples of how the gangs are using social media and encrypted messaging services to plan serious crimes and recruit very young people to do their dirty work,” Hummelgaard said. “My Nordic colleagues and I agree that a common front is needed to get a grip on this problem.”

As well as recruitment, lists have been found spreading on social media detailing the payments on offer for various criminal services.   

Hummelgaard said he would “insist that the tech giants live up to their responsibilities so that their platforms do not act as hotbeds for serious crimes” at the meeting, which will take place at a summit of Nordic justice ministers in Uppsala, Sweden.

In August, Hummelgaard held a meeting in Copenhagen with Sweden’s justice minister, Gunnar Strömmer, at which the two agreed to work harder to tackle cross-border organised crime, which has seen a series of Swedish youth arrested in Denmark after being recruited to carry out hits in the country. 

According to a press release from the Swedish justice ministry, the morning will be spent discussing how to combat the criminal economy and particularly organised crime in ports, with a press release from Finland’s justice ministry adding that the discussion would also touch on the “undue influence on judicial authorities” from organised crime groups. 

The day will end with a round table discussion with Ronald S Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, on how anti-Semitism and hate crimes against Jews can be prevented and fought in the Nordic region. 

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