South African authorities launch formal extradition request for Shrien Dewani
The South African authorities have lodged a formal request for British honeymooner Shrien Dewani to be extradited back to the country to face trial for arranging the murder of his wife Anni in a fake carjacking in Cape Town.
Mr Dewani's Bristol-based family have said that the evidence police have is 'flimsy and flawed'
A spokesman for the National Prosecuting Authority, the South African version of the Crown Prosecution Service, said the papers had been submitted to the country's Department of Justice which will make submissions to the British authorities.
Spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga said his organisation was confident that the attempt to have Mr Dewani extradited would be successful and he would be back in the country "very soon".
"We believe that in time we will have him here as an accused," he said.
Mr Dewani's Bristol-based family have said that the evidence police have which suggest the 30-year-old businessman had arranged his wife's murder on November 13 was "flimsy and flawed". They accuse the authorities of manufacturing a case against him to protect the country's lucrative tourism industry.
His legal team is blocking South Africa's extradition attempt, claiming that he will not receive a fair trial following a number of prejudicial comments made by the country's national police commissioner, who branded him a "monkey [who came] from London to kill his wife here".
Mr Dewani and his new wife Anni, 28, an engineer from Sweden, had been in Cape Town for little over a day when their taxi driver Zola Tongo suggested they drive through the township of Gugulethu on the way home from dinner.
They were ambushed by two men who forced first Tongo then Mr Dewani out of the car unharmed before driving away with Anni Dewani still inside. Her body was found on the back seat of the abandoned car the following day with multiple gunshot wounds.
The two alleged gunmen, Xolile Mngeni, 23, and Mzwamadoda Qwabe, 26, were arrested and charged with murder, aggravated robbery and kidnap. They are due to stand trial in February.
Tongo turned state witness and, in return for a reduced prison sentence, alleged Mr Dewani had paid him and his accomplices £1,400 to kill his wife in a fake carjacking.
McIntosh Polela, a spokesperson for South Africa's Hawks specialist crime unit which has been investigating Mrs Dewani's murder, denied the claims that the police case was "flimsy".
"We have put it on record that we believe we have a strong case against Mr Dewani," he said. "As we speak, we are still gathering more evidence to further strengthen the case against him."
He also dismissed suggestions that Mr Dewani would not get a fair trial.
"The South African justice system is respected in the UK and around the world," he said. "When he stands trial in South Africa, Mr Dewani will be treated the same way as anyone who stands trial in a South African court."
When Mr Dewani handed himself in to police on December 7, he was arrested on a provisional arrest warrant issued by a district judge at Westminster Magistrates Court.
The South African authorities have 45 days from that point to send a formal extradition request to the UK Home Office which is then certified by the Home Secretary, Theresa May.
Mr Dewani is due back in court in January. South Africa is one of a handful of countries that does not have to provide prima facie evidence to the UK about why it wants an individual extradited.
The country also recently demonstrated the strength of ties between South African and British law enforcement authorities when it sent Darren Michael Finch, wanted over drugs and money laundering offences, back to the UK in November.
They were ambushed by two men who forced first Tongo then Mr Dewani out of the car unharmed before driving away with Anni Dewani still inside. Her body was found on the back seat of the abandoned car the following day with multiple gunshot wounds.
The two alleged gunmen, Xolile Mngeni, 23, and Mzwamadoda Qwabe, 26, were arrested and charged with murder, aggravated robbery and kidnap. They are due to stand trial in February.
Tongo turned state witness and, in return for a reduced prison sentence, alleged Mr Dewani had paid him and his accomplices £1,400 to kill his wife in a fake carjacking.
McIntosh Polela, a spokesperson for South Africa's Hawks specialist crime unit which has been investigating Mrs Dewani's murder, denied the claims that the police case was "flimsy".
"We have put it on record that we believe we have a strong case against Mr Dewani," he said. "As we speak, we are still gathering more evidence to further strengthen the case against him."
He also dismissed suggestions that Mr Dewani would not get a fair trial.
"The South African justice system is respected in the UK and around the world," he said. "When he stands trial in South Africa, Mr Dewani will be treated the same way as anyone who stands trial in a South African court."
When Mr Dewani handed himself in to police on December 7, he was arrested on a provisional arrest warrant issued by a district judge at Westminster Magistrates Court.
The South African authorities have 45 days from that point to send a formal extradition request to the UK Home Office which is then certified by the Home Secretary, Theresa May.
Mr Dewani is due back in court in January. South Africa is one of a handful of countries that does not have to provide prima facie evidence to the UK about why it wants an individual extradited.
The country also recently demonstrated the strength of ties between South African and British law enforcement authorities when it sent Darren Michael Finch, wanted over drugs and money laundering offences, back to the UK in November.
