Accused husband remanded in custody

ODN 2010-12-08

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A honeymooner accused of having his bride killed in South Africa has been remanded in custody after an appeal was lodged against his bail.


Shrien Dewani, who was arrested on Tuesday on an extradition warrant, was initially granted bail at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court earlier. But the South African authorities lodged an immediate appeal, meaning the businessman from Bristol will be held in custody pending a High Court hearing.


Dewani, whose wife Anni, 28, was shot dead last month as they visited a township, was arrested on suspicion of conspiring to murder her. The 30-year-old was accused of ordering her death by taxi driver Zola Tongo as he was sentenced for his part in the killing in a South African court on Tuesday.


Tongo said he got the impression that Dewani had been in South Africa before and "had done something like this before and said he wanted the murder to look like a hijacking", according to a statement given to South African police.


Acting for the South African authorities, lawyer Ben Watson told the extradition hearing that Dewani had met Tongo at Cape Town international airport and arranged for him to take him and his new bride to their hotel and to act as their tour guide.


The suspicions of the South African authorities were aroused by the fact that the couple did not make use of the airport-to-hotel shuttle service, hiring Tongo to take them to their hotel instead, City of Westminster Magistrates' Court heard.


Investigators also thought it strange that Tongo had taken the couple to Gugulethu to view a restaurant that was known to be closed at the time of their visit, Mr Watson added.


Added to that was the fact that neither Mr Dewani nor the taxi driver were even injured in the incident, having been forced out of the vehicle separately, while Mrs Dewani was brutally killed.

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