All eyes on Shrien Dewani trialSouth Africa, Sunday 5 October 2014 - 8:24am
by Annika Larsen
CAPE TOWN - It’s taken judicial authorities more than three years to get British murder accused Shrien Dewani to South Africa to stand trial.
On Monday, Dewani will plead guilty or not guilty to his wife’s murder.
Anni Dewani’s body was found slumped in the back of a VW Sharan in Khayelitsha in November 2010.
The case has sparked international interest, not only for Dewani’s fate but for how the South African judiciary will handle the case.
When former police commisioner Bheki Cele called Shrien Dewani a ‘’monkey‘’ who had taken South Africans for fools by coming here to allegedly have his wife murdered, South Africa’s justice officials must have cringed,
Especially as they were trying so hard to have Dewani extradited from England, fighting assertions that he was unlikely to get a fair trial in South Africa.
Now South African justice officials feel they have something to prove, given that they’ve made several undertakings to the UK’s legal authorities.
Leading the prosecution is advocate
Adrian Mopp. He’s the former Western Cape head of the now defunct crime-fighters, the Scorpions.
Mopp will be assisted by
Shireen Riley, the lead prosecutor in the trial of Najwa Petersen, who masterminded the murder of her husband – the famous singer and playwright – Taliep Petersen.
For the defense is
Senior Counsel Francois van Zyl. He’s one of the most experienced criminal lawyers in the country.
The Attorney General of the former Transkei has acted for convicted fraudster Shabir Shaik and the son of a former British prime minister, Mark Thatcher.
Van Zyl is a tactician rather than a showman.
They will be arguing before the deputy
Judge President of the Western Cape High Court, Jeanette Traverso.
She has a reputation for being tough – running her court with military precision and with no tolerance for theatrics or the badgering of witnesses.
Once again, the world’s eyes will turn to a South African court – this time in Cape Town and so judicial authorities can be expected to be particularly vigilant.
A trial-related mishap will be viewed as bad PR and if Shrien Dewani is convicted, it will only serve to be used as grounds for an appeal.
...more at linkhttp://www.enca.com/south-africa/all-ey ... wani-trial