Shrien Dewani with wife Anni
The Bristol man accused of arranging the murder of his new wife on their honeymoon in South Africa will learn on Friday if he has won his appeal against extradition.
Shrien Dewani, who denies any wrongdoing, is accused of arranging the contract killing of wife Anni in Cape Town in November 2010.
The care home owner from Westbury-on-Trym heard last September that Home Secretary Theresa May had signed an order for him to be extradited to South Africa to face murder charges.
The appeal was heard on December 13 and 14 at London’s High Court, and two judges heard that the health – and the life – of the businessman would be at risk if he is extradited.
The judges were asked to block the extradition order on the grounds that his mental health had deteriorated to the point where he was “too ill to be extradited” and was a suicide risk.
Dewani has been diagnosed with severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and severe depression.
On Monday, CCTV footage appeared to show the moment Mr Dewani is alleged to have handed money to his taxi driver to pay for arranging the murder of his wife Anni – who was shot dead in an alleged carjacking in a township outside of Cape Town.
Anni’s family believe the emergence of the BBC’s unseen footage reinforces their view that the businessman has a case to answer in South Africa.
Vinoch Hindocha, Anni’s uncle and family spokesman, said on Monday that the family had seen the footage – due to be aired on Thursday night on the BBC’s Panorama programme – and believes that the images raise more questions than answers.
“We still believe he has answers to give us. Those pictures do not change our view, it does not affect (our view) at all. We still believe that he must go to South Africa and give us the answers we need,” he told South African news website IOL News.
