{"id":3031,"date":"2014-12-08T12:34:55","date_gmt":"2014-12-08T12:34:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/?p=3031"},"modified":"2014-12-08T12:34:55","modified_gmt":"2014-12-08T12:34:55","slug":"british-millionaire-dewani-acquitted-of-honeymoon-murder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/index.php\/british-millionaire-dewani-acquitted-of-honeymoon-murder\/","title":{"rendered":"British millionaire Dewani acquitted of \u2018honeymoon murder\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Dewani\"<\/a>A South African judge on Monday acquitted British millionaire businessman Shrien Dewani of murdering his bride on their honeymoon, saying the state had not adequately made the case against him.
\nJudge Jeannette Traverso said the prosecutors\u2019 arguments had \u201cfallen far below\u201d the level needed to secure a conviction, paving the way for Dewani to walk free without mounting a defense.
\nThe ruling is a blow to the reputation of South Africa\u2019s state prosecutors, coming after a lengthy and costly battle to extradite Dewani from Britain.
\nDewani\u2019s lawyers applied for his discharge at the end of the state\u2019s case, arguing that the evidence against him was so weak he should be acquitted.
\nTraverso agreed, giving a scathing view of key state witnesses.
\nShe said evidence given by taxi driver Zola Tonga that implicated Dewani in a murder plot was \u201chighly improbable,\u201d while a prosecution witness was described as a \u201cself-confessed liar.\u201d
\nProsecutors had accused Dewani, 34, of hiring hitmen to kill his 28-year-old Swedish bride Anni on their 2010 Cape Town honeymoon in a staged hijacking because he is a gay man who felt trapped into marriage by family pressures.
\nDewani says he is bisexual and loved Anni.
\nAfter the ruling was read out Dewani left the dock and greeted his weeping mother.
\nThe dead woman\u2019s family left the Western Cape High Court in shock.
\nThey had earlier urged the judge to make sure that Dewani testified.
\n\u201cDon\u2019t let Shrien Dewani walk away without giving us, South Africa and people from all over the world the full story,\u201d Anni Dewani\u2019s brother Anish Hindocha said ahead of the ruling.
\nTraverso said she had heard those calls, but had to apply the law rather than emotion.
\nBoth families \u2014 the Dewanis and the Hindochas \u2014 are of Indian origin, and have sat on opposite sides of the courtroom throughout weeks of sensational testimony.
\nThe driver of the hijacked taxi and one of the hijackers \u2014 both serving long jail terms for the murder \u2014 testified that Dewani hired them for 15,000 rand ($1,300) to kill his wife.
\nDewani\u2019s lawyer Francois van Zyl argued that their evidence was full of contradictions and \u201ccannot safely be relied upon.\u201d
\nAccording to South Africa\u2019s Criminal Procedure Act, an accused can be declared not guilty at the close of the prosecution case if the court feels there is insufficient evidence to show he or she committed the crime.
\nDewani returned to Britain within days of the murder in November 2010 and fought a three-year legal battle to avoid being extradited to South Africa, claiming he had mental health problems, including depression and post-traumatic stress.
\nBut he was sent back to South Africa in April, where he was found fit to stand trial.<\/p>\n

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