One legal expert believes Deputy Judge President Jeanette Traverso made an error in not putting Shrien Dewani on the witness stand. Instead, Dewani was acquitted of the charge of murder against him on Monday.
In delivering her judgment on an application by Dewani’s defence team, Traverso explained that the State had not made a sufficient case to proceed with a charge of murder against Dewani.
But Gauteng based advocate Zehir Omar said the judgment is questionable.
“Judge Traverso ought to have rejected the application for a discharge; advocate Van Zyl should at that point have decided whether or not to call Shrien Dewani into the box to testify or not. [Because] Dewani was not called to the box, crucial questions will remain unanswered; these include how did Dewani go to the Khayelitsha Police Station so shortly after the murder of his wife; why was he not injured at all; what lead to the circumstances that caused Dewani to become so close to the people who confessed to murdering his wife and left him unscathed?”
Omar says Traverso ignored blatant evidence that perhaps was not pointed out by the prosecution, but could be relayed by the context of Anni Dewani’s manner of death.
“Why would strange people in a strange country make up a story and even be willing to go to prison for many years in order to implicate Dewani in a conspiracy to murder his wife?”
Omar believes now that Dewani is free to go, he will never be able to give context to these questions that the prosecution and the general public may want to have had answered.
“He has failed to explain these factors, and in not taking to the witness box, he has failed to prove, in court, beyond reasonable doubt that he had nothing to do with his wife’s murder,” Omar said. VOC (Andriques Petersen)
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5 comments
“Why would strange people in a strange country make up a story and even be willing to go to prison for many years in order to implicate Dewani in a conspiracy to murder his wife?” – Eh? Doesn't make sense, much like the article.
Expert?????
““Why would strange people in a strange country make up a story and even be willing to go to prison for many years in order to implicate Dewani in a conspiracy to murder his wife?”
This has to be the dumbest “legal expert” ever. The only correct statement in the phrase is “conspiracy to murder” because thats all this was! The judge acquitted because there was no sufficient evidence to convict him apart from a self confessed tax driver who had a plea bargain, for a reduced sentence, that why! Why would a judge order an accused to take the stand when to begin with there is no credible evidence to implicate mr legal expert?
I feel for the family of Anni and RIP to her soul but it was always obvious this trial was always merely a conspiracy which seems to have been influenced more by public opinion and theories rather than probable facts and concrete evidence.
from the top down, south africa is becoming a nation of incompetents, liars, etc, one possibly guilty guy goes free, but 1/1000 th of the money saved on a travesty of justice court case can now be used to feed cloth house and train one destitude person
The millions of rand spent on providing Dewani with his own private jet to and from South Africa could also have been put to better use! Why wasn't he put on an ordinary flight like any ordinary person. Why the preferential treatment? The whole case stinks to the highest heaven!