Three days have been set down in May for a United Kingdom court to hear the application to have Shrien Dewani extradited from the UK to South Africa to stand trial for the alleged murder of his wife, Anni, a UK court ruled on Tuesday.
“The case [was] postponed to March for a review in order to allow and ensure that the state and the defence are able to submit or file their papers,” South African justice department spokesperson Tlali Tlali said.
“A further [three] days have been set aside in May for a hearing on substantive aspects of the extradition.”
Stress-related condition
Shrien was not in court, and his representatives had informed the court of this, due to a stress-related condition he has been diagnosed with.
Anni was shot dead in Khayelitsha in the early hours of Sunday, November 13, while the couple was on honeymoon.
A shuttle bus driver, Zola Tongo, who had driven them to dinner on the Saturday night, is serving an 18-year prison sentence after a plea deal was agreed to in the high court in Cape Town.
In that deal, which was not subjected to cross-examination in court, he said he had arranged for people to kill Anni at the request of her husband Shrien, for R15 000.
The BBC reported that the extradition hearing will begin on May 3, and the other hearing on March 23. — Sapa