Honeymoon slaying suspect extradited to S Africa
LONDON (AP) — A British man accused of arranging the slaying of his wife on their honeymoon was extradited Monday to South Africa to face a murder charge.
Shrien Dewani had spent years fighting extradition over the death of his 28-year-old bride Anni. She was found shot dead in an abandoned taxi in Cape Town's Gugulethu township in November 2010.
Dewani is accused of hiring men to kill his wife and make it look like a botched carjacking. Three men, including the cab's driver and a gunman, have been convicted in the murder but Dewani denies wrongdoing.
Lawyers for the 34-year-old businessman say he suffers from post-traumatic stress and depression and is unfit to stand trial.
But after a long legal battle, Britain's High Court rejected all his grounds for appeal last month.
Dewani was taken Monday from the mental health unit in Bristol, southwest England, where he has been receiving treatment and put on a flight to Cape Town, British police said.
"Officers were met at the airport by representatives from the South African authorities who have escorted him on the flight to South Africa," London's Metropolitan Police said.
South Africa's justice ministry said he would appear at Western Cape High Court in Cape Town on Tuesday. It said that "in view of his peculiar medical condition," Dewani would be accompanied in court by a doctor and a nurse.
The dead woman's family says the extradition brings them a step closer to justice.
"From today and onwards, this case will be about Anni," said her uncle, Ashok Hindocha. "Until now it hasn't been about what really happened to her."
