SHARE
COPY LINK
SWEDISH HONEYMOON SLAYING

CRIME

Dewani’s court case postponed in Cape Town

Extradited British millionaire businessman Shrien Dewani briefly appeared in a Cape Town court on Monday, with his lawyers successfully arguing he was not yet fit to stand trial on charges of ordering his Swedish wife's murder.

Dewani's court case postponed in Cape Town
Photo: TT
Extradited British millionaire businessman Shrien Dewani briefly appeared in a Cape Town court on Monday, with his lawyers successfully arguing he was not yet fit to stand trial on charges of ordering his Swedish wife's murder.
   
Judge John Hlope ordered Dewani to appear in court again on June 20 and he was remanded in custody at the Valkenberg psychiatric hospital where he has been receiving treatment since his arrival in South Africa last month.
   
Dewani, 34, glanced nervously around him in the dock as his lawyers said psychiatrists had told them Dewani had been cooperative but lacked the ability to concentrate for any length of time.
   
They were hopeful that his condition would improve, lawyer Francois van Zyl told the court.
   
Dewani, who returned to Britain shortly after his wife's murder in 2010, had fought his extradition for three years, claiming he had mental health problems including depression and post-traumatic stress.
   
If he is not found fit to face trial within 18 months, he will be returned to Britain under the terms of his extradition.
   
Dewani denies ordering the killing of his 28-year-old bride Anni in Cape Town in November 2010.
   
He claims the couple were kidnapped at gunpoint during their honeymoon as they drove through the Gugulethu township in a taxi.
   
Dewani escaped unharmed, but his wife's body was found in the abandoned car the next day. She had been shot dead.
   
Prosecutors allege Dewani hired South African Xolile Mngeni to kill Anni.
 
Mngeni was jailed for life for the murder in December 2012.
   
Two other men also jailed over the killing allege that Dewani ordered the hit.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

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. 

SHOW COMMENTS