End-of-day summary
- Shrien Dewani has been found not guilty of orchestrating the murder of his wife, Anni Dewani, on their honeymoon in South Africa in 2010.
- Judge Jeannette Traverso agreed with an application by the defence to have the case thrown out, criticising the prosecution’s decision to base its case entirely on the witness testimony of a “self-confessed liar” who “does not know where the truth ends and a lie begins”.
- The state’s case rested on the witness testimony of three men who admitted involvement in Anni’s murder and said Shrien Dewani had employed them to carry out an apparent car-jacking. Traverso said their testimony was “so riddled with contradictions, mistakes, lies and inconsistencies that I can all but ignore them”.
- The family of Anni Dewani said they did not feel that justice had been done. Ami Denborg said they were sad that the dismissal of the case meant that Shrien Dewani would not have to give his version of events from the witness stand:
All we wanted was to hear all the events – the hope of finding that out has kept us as a family going. We feel that right has been taken away from us.
We feel really really sad because we never heard the full story of Shrien.
- The Hindocha family said they would consult lawyers about the possibility of suing Shrien Dewani in the UK over Anni’s murder.
- Shrien Dewani and his family have not yet made any statement. It is expected that Dewani will spend tonight in the Valkenberg psychiatric hospital in Cape Town – where he has stayed since being extradited from the UK to South Africa in April – before leaving the country tomorrow.
That’s it from this liveblog for now. You can read more on today’s ruling across the Guardian:
- Shrien Dewani cleared of honeymoon murder
- Dewani trial: what really happened and how did police get it so wrong?
- Shrien Dewani: from lavish wedding to a high court murder trial
Thank you for reading.
Hindocha family could sue Dewani in UK
Nina Hindocha, Anni’s aunt, and uncle Ashok Hindocha have issued a statement on behalf of the family, in which she says they will be consulting lawyers to determine whether there are ground for them to sue Shrien Dewani in the UK over her death:
Anni was very, very special … to all who knew and loved her.
With the end of the case against Shrien Dewani, our family returns home with more questionss than answers, and more sleepless nights.
We … will always live without ever knowing the complete events which led up to Anni’s death.
We will now go through this case with our lawyers to confirm whether we can file a lawsuit against Shrien Dewani in the United Kingdom.
Updated
You can watch here as the judge delivers her ruling that the case against Shrien Dewani be abandoned:
As well as dismissing the case against Shrien Dewani, the judge said that Monde Mbolombo – who gave evidence as the “middle man” in the alleged plot – would not be granted immunity for his part in the murder.
Mbolombo, a hotel porter, admitted telling lies to the court to protect himself in earlier stages of the investigation. He had been granted immunity by prosecutors in return for being a state witness.
But the judge said: “As his evidence progressed it became more and more clear of his involvement.”
It will now be up to prosecutors to decide whether Mbolombo should face criminal proceedings.
The BBC reports that Shrien Dewani and his family are not expected to make any statement today. It’s anticipated that Shrien Dewani will spend tonight in the Valkenberg psychiatric hospital in Cape Town – where he has stayed since being extradited from the UK to South Africa in April – before leaving the country tomorrow.
Dewani is believed to have now left the court through a side entrance.
Updated
Steven Morris has been speaking to supporters of Shrien Dewani in his hometown:
Friends of the Dewani family in Bristol said they were delighted that Shrien had been cleared.
Pankaj Pandaya, an old family friend who knows the Dewanis through the Bristol Hindu Temple, has always maintained that Shrien is “150% innocent” and describes him as intelligent, respectable and religious.
Reacting to the verdict, he said: “I’m pleased obviously. I can’t comment about what his future might be but he’ll certainly be accepted back into the community here.”
Another family friend, Margaret Stewart, said: “It’s been a very traumatic time for the family. It’s been four years of their lives. He [Shrien] has also been trying to grieve in that time.”
Anni Dewani's sister: 'We wish Shrien had been honest with us'
Ami Denborg, sister of Anni Dewani, has made a statement:
All we wanted was to hear all the events – the hope of finding that out has kept us as a family going.
We feel that right has been taken away from us.
We feel really really sad because we never heard the full story of Shrien.
She says he led a double live that Anni was not aware of.
We just wish that Shrien had been honest with us and especially with Anni.
We’ve had four years of sleepless nights – will we ever be able to sleep?
This is a really sad day for us and we hope no other families will have to go through what we’ve been through.
Updated
My colleague Steven Morris, who has reported on the case since Anni Dewani was murdered four years ago, has this report on a troubled marriage that ended in tragedy:
Behind the scenes there were, undoubtedly, tensions and problems. Dewani had abnormally low hormone levels that could have affected his ability to have children. Dewani has said the couple wanted children and he decided to undergo treatment even thought it could have caused uncomfortable side-effects.
Quite what Anni knew of his sexuality remains unclear. Following her death, lurid allegations about Dewani’s links to a Birmingham prostitute who worked under the name the German Master surfaced in the Sun. It was an open secret in the Bristol bars that Dewani used to frequent that he had gay relationships.
At the time the Dewani camp strongly refuted the allegations but in court he admitted he was bisexual and accepted that he knew the German Master, Leopold Leisser.
At the close of the prosecution case, the defence team launched a blistering attack on its evidence and demanded the case be dropped. As Dan Newling reported from Cape Town:
Francois van Zyl said the prosecution’s case was so weak and implausible that the trial should cease immediately with no need for Dewani to mount a defence.
Dewani’s lawyer focused on the testimony of just one state witness: Zola Tongo, the taxi driver who claims Dewani commissioned him to carry out the murder.
Van Zyl told the court that Tongo was a ‘completely unreliable witness’. His testimony is ‘not only highly improbable, but it is also riddled with contradictions on virtually every material aspect’, he said …
Van Zyl attacked numerous aspects of the case against his client. Chief among the ‘many improbabilities’, he argued, was the idea that Tongo would have agreed to take part in a murder having met Dewani for the first time at Cape Town airport.
‘It is highly improbable that the accused, after he had been in Tongo’s company for approximately 30 minutes, would approach Tongo with a request to find someone to kill.
‘It is even more improbable that Tongo, who had never been involved in any criminal activity, would virtually immediately agree.
‘This sequence of events … is so highly improbable that it simply cannot be true,’ he said.
Van Zyl said Anni Dewani appeared to have been killed in a robbery or ransom plot gone wrong. ‘Yes, there was a conspiracy. Yes, there was a hijack. Yes, Anni was shot. But there is no evidence Shrien Dewani was involved.’
Judge's comments
Dewani’s defence team asked the court last month to dismiss the case due to a lack of evidence and contradictions from key witnesses. Today Judge Jeanette Traverso agreed to grant the section 174 discharge application.
She said the prosecution’s case did not meet judicial standards requiring reasonable and probable cause to believe that the accused was guilty.
In my view, the evidence presented in this case falls far below this threshold.
The application is granted.
The accused is found not guilty on this charge.
Why did the state's case fail?
My colleague Dan Newling in Cape Town says Shrien Dewani’s acquittal raises some important questions about his wife’s murder – and the South African authorities’ response to it.
How did the South African police get it so wrong?
In its failed argument against the discharge of the trial, South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) conceded that its case rested on the witness testimonies of three men: the driver Zola Tongo, the hijacker Mziwamadoda Qwabe and the so-called “middle man” Monde Mbolombo.
The NPA said all three of these men had taken part in Anni Dewani’s killing and had provided their evidence under plea bargain type arrangements, by which they personally benefitted.
Tongo received an effective 17 years off a potential 25-year jail sentence in return for his testimony. Qwabe got eight years off a 25-year jail spell. Mbolombo won the chance to achieve complete immunity from prosecution.
All three men fared terribly in the witness box. Their testimonies were so confused and factually erroneous that Dewani’s barrister Francois van Zyl felt able to label the state’s case “a cesspit of contradictions”.
Judge Traverso’s decision to throw Dewani’s case out of court showed she shared van Zyl’s lack of faith in the state witnesses’ reliability.
“The evidence of these witnesses was replete with contradictions, mistakes, lies and inconsistencies that I can all but ignore them,” she said this morning.
But why did the police and prosecution place such faith in these men?
Senior investigating detective Capt. Paul Hendrikse was asked about the decision to offer a plea bargain to Zola Tongo - whose evidence, the prosecution conceded, was the “fulcrum” of its case.
This decision, Hendrikse replied, had been made by the Western Cape’s director of public prosecutions (DPP), Rodney de Kock.
“I was instructed by the DPP to obtain a [plea bargain] statement from Tongo”, Hendrikse told the court.
Updated
More here on the statement read outside court by Ami Denborg, sister of Anni Dewani:
#DewaniTrial Ami Denborg, Anni Hindocha's sister, says they came to SA for answers. Now they are left with more questions.
— Ayesha (@CloraVannieKaap) December 8, 2014
#DewaniTrial Reading a statement on behalf of her family Ami Denborg says the SA Justice system has failed them.
— Ayesha (@CloraVannieKaap) December 8, 2014
#DewaniTrial CORRECTION Ami Denborg said Shrien Dewani had lived a double life which he did not reveal to Anni.
— Ayesha (@CloraVannieKaap) December 8, 2014
#DewaniTrial Ami Denborg says today the family feels very very sad as they have not heard the full story from Shrien.
— Ayesha (@CloraVannieKaap) December 8, 2014
#DewaniTrial Ami Denborg says not knowing what really happened to Anni will haunt her and her family for the rest of their lives.
— Ayesha (@CloraVannieKaap) December 8, 2014
This Guardian investigation from 2011 plots how Shrien Dewani became a suspect in the murder of Anni Dewani, and how the case against him began to fragment:
A Guardian investigation has found allegations from lawyers for the two alleged killers in South Africa that they were tortured by police. One of the men insists his account, alleging Dewani was involved, was ‘suggested’ to him by the police and his lawyer also claims a crucial identity parade was flawed.
In addition, the Guardian has seen police papers that show how quickly – within 36 hours – detectives appeared to believe and accept the vital testimony of the third man, taxi driver Zola Tongo, who is serving a reduced sentence for his part in the murder in exchange for his testimony against Dewani …
The Guardian investigation refocuses attention on South Africa’s police force and its controversial national commissioner, General Bheki Cele, who faces calls to resign after branding Dewani a ‘monkey’ and appearing to prejudge his guilt.
The Hindocha family – Anni Dewani’s father and siblings – were bundled into a car as they left the courtroom. Anni’s sister told reporters:
The justice system has failed us.
Shrien Dewani has not yet left the high court with his family. As soon as the judge dismissed the case against him, he left the courtroom. A huge crowd of reporters and cameras await him outside the court building.
The family of Anni Dewani were in court this morning to hear the case against him thrown out. They have now been ushered away from the court.
Sky News has posted this video of the moment the judge ruled that Dewani be found not guilty of ordering the murder of his wife, Anni:
Watch the moment Shrien Dewani was acquitted of plotting to murder his wife on their honeymoon. #DewaniTrial http://t.co/7q51G8cQk7
— Sky News (@SkyNews) December 8, 2014
A judge in South Africa has cleared the British businessman Shrien Dewani of murdering his wife during their 2010 honeymoon.
Judge Jeanette Traverso dismissed the case against Dewani after roundly condemning the evidence of the chief prosecution witness.
Announcing her ruling, the judge said: “The accused is found not guilty of this charge.”
We will have live coverage of the reaction and fall-out from the judge’s decision.
You can read the first take on the story here.
