Shrien Dewani can be extradited to South Africa to face trial, court rules

A British businessman accused of plotting the murder of his wife while they honeymooned in South Africa should be extradited to face trial in Cape Town, a court in London has ruled.

Chief magistrate Howard Riddle’s decided that Shrien Dewani ought to be sent to South Africa, where he is wanted over the murder of his wife, Anni.

The ruling at Westminster magistrates court was welcomed by Anni Dewani’s family, who said their lives have been on hold while they wait for Dewani to answer questions in court about what happened during the couple’s honeymoon in November 2010.

Relatives of Ms Dewani packed the courtroom wearing photographs of her pinned to their clothes, decorated with pink ribbons.

Moves to extradite Dewani – who has been suffering from severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder and is being treated in a mental health unit in his home city of Bristol – have been long and complex.

His extradition was ordered in the summer of 2011 by Riddle, and the home secretary, Theresa May, signed the extradition papers.

But his legal team continued to fight against his removal and in March last year the extradition was temporarily halted by the high court, who judged it would be “unjust and oppressive” for him to be sent to South Africa because of his mental health.

Riddle said on Wednesday: “It is not in question that Shrien Dewani will be returned to South Africa. The treating clinicians continue to state that Mr Dewani will recover.

“There has been recovery, but it has been slow. It may be a long time before Mr Dewani is fit to plead, but he may be closer to that point.

“It is not impossible that if returned now, then after a reasonable period of further treatment and assessment, he will be found fit to plead and a trial can take place.”

Shrien Dewani’s family say they will lodge an appeal against Wednesday’s decision.

During a four-day hearing earlier this month, the South African government argued that Dewani, 33, had recovered sufficiently to be extradited, even if he had to spend time in a Cape Town psychiatric hospital before any trial.

South African prosecutors allege that in November 2010 Dewani arranged the murder of his 28-year-old wife, a crime they claim was carried out by a hired hitman under the guise of a botched carjacking. He strongly denies the allegations.

In the latest hearing, Hugo Keith QC, for the South African government, said Dewani had shown signs of progress. “He will recover in time, there is no question that he won’t recover,” he said.

Keith accepted that Dewani had an inability to concentrate or to go over events connected to his wife’s murder and was not yet fit to stand trial. But he suggested the threat of extradition hanging over him was inhibiting his recovery and it might be in his interests to go to South Africa.

According to Keith, South African authorities had “pulled out every stop” to cater for Dewani’s needs if he were extradited. Arrangements had been made for him to be treated at the general psychiatric unit at the Valkenburg psychiatric hospital in Cape Town.

In Bristol, Dewani has been allowed to spend time in a campervan parked in the hospital grounds and can walk home, accompanied by a member of staff, every day to visit family.

Experts are split on whether it would be best to return him to South Africa.

Psychiatrist Dr Ian Cumming, who has examined Dewani, said the suspect had told him he wanted to fight the murder case.

“He said he wanted to prove that he hadn’t done anything wrong,” Cumming said. “I think sometimes pushing patients on towards difficult things may be actually acting in their interests. It could well be that in six months or a year’s time we have exactly the same position. There’s something to be said for getting on with it.”

Cumming said the travel arrangements to get Dewani back to South Africa would involve “a lot of logistical and planning” and he may have to be sedated, which “would not be ideal”. But he was confident the standard of Dewani’s ongoing medical treatment would be “robust” in South Africa.

Psychiatrist Professor Nigel Eastman told the court that Dewani still thought about his wife a lot.

Eastman said: “Whether or not Mr Dewani is guilty of the offence charged, he has lost his wife and there is grief at the loss of his wife. The nature of the context of the loss does not abolish that grief. It is still very real and I think he thinks about Anni a lot.”

He suggested it would be better to wait another six months before being sent to South Africa. “If he goes to South Africa and does not improve, he is at risk of being chronically ill and chronically unfit to plead. If there were no legal matters to deal with then you would not move Mr Dewani.”

In her closing arguments, Clare Montgomery QC had said her client might “never get fit”. Arguing for a six-month adjournment to see if his condition improves while being treated in Britain, she said “there is no logic or sense in returning him at this delicate stage”.

Swedish-born Anni Dewani was found dead in the back of an abandoned car with a bullet wound to her neck the morning after the couple were kidnapped at gunpoint in Gugulethu, a Cape Town township. Her husband said he was freed by the kidnappers. Three South African men have been jailed for their part in the killing.