LATEST NEWS ON DEWANI MURDER

mumbles wrote:Anni Dewani murder: Suspect tells police 'I found hitmen' ...

Must make for rather grim reading for Shrien, his family and Max. Speaking of Max, I recently found this article on the NewsTime blog here in SA - written by a fellow called Chris Brewer and titled WHO IS MAX CLIFFORD?

I once met a guy who pitched for the Saddam Hussein PR account but I don't think he got it (probably just as well really because, in my experience anyway, dead clients don't often pay their fees). He didn't want the business for any other reason than to get himself on the front pages of newspapers of course.

So I've taken a bemused interest in the UK “publicist” who's currently getting a lot of publicity (mainly for himself) whilst speaking about his client, Shrien Dewani. Max Clifford's speciality is, as you probably already know, the negotiating of all those spiteful “kiss-and-tell” stories to the British tabloids. He's had some famous clients too – Mohammed Al Fayed used him to “polish” his image back in 2000 when all kinds of shady publicity tricks were used. He's handled prostitutes, fading rock stars, alcoholics and terminally-ill Reality TV show stars – most of the time keeping stories OUT of the media (by attention deflection, insinuation and false leads) rather than getting stories INTO the press. All things considered, he's not really a very nice man at all.

But as a spokesperson, although he's well known for his cunning, he's clearly struggling to justify his current position but does, somehow, manage to get himself quoted on the Dewani case just about every day. Perhaps, like me, you're wondering why an accused murderer's first act is to appoint a “publicist”? Perhaps there's a book or film opportunity there? You will be forgiven for thinking that by using “the maximiser” and his bag of dirty tricks, Shrien Dewani thinks the increasing suspicions surrounding him will suddenly be made to disappear? To believe in that possibility is extreme optimism.

Here's the thing Max. Do whatever it is you have to do to get favourable press for your client but, be warned, when you start slagging-off South Africa you run a huge risk of making 47 million serious enemies who will all make it very difficult for the rumours to simply “disappear”. You see, WE know our shortcomings perfectly well but nothing pisses us off more than when a dickhead like you starts using us as a scapegoat and making snide remarks about us from 6,000 miles away. So don't DARE to divert the focus away from your client and on to us. You'll regret it.

Before I say anything else, let me say that your client is innocent at the moment. If he's tried and found guilty then he'll be punished. If, however, he's innocent of being involved in Anni's murder he will have this nation's sympathy for the devastating nightmare and horror he's been put through and we will all join him in mourning the tragic loss of his wife. But you're making your client's position worse Max. God only knows why the Dewani family continue to retain your services. You're a low-life spin-merchant and you continue to trot out ridiculous accusations against South Africa in the stupid belief that you can deflect all the media and legal attention.

Unfortunately for us, there are a few you've managed to upset so much that they've responded without thinking first. The profoundly stupid remarks of our Police Chief might cause you some delight because he's stooped to your level – and we're all hoping that our National Police Commissioner will keep quiet in future. (Bheki Cele's actual remark was “a monkey came all the way from London to have his wife murdered here.”) But because of that you might, despite your pathetic utterances, just be able to evade an extradition order after all. Shame on us. And shame on you when you started making slurs against this country. All you achieved was to infuriate every policeman, journalist and citizen here who, in retaliation, will leave no stone unturned in investigating this case. You see, Max, we all know we're not perfect and we ARE allowed to criticise ourselves – and our Police Chief too – but you are NOT afforded the same privilege. Don't you understand that simple fact you imbecile?

So I have some advice for your client. (No fee). Firstly, get rid of Max Clifford because he's bringing you down. Secondly, say nothing to the media and cooperate with the law. Thirdly, tell the truth. Don't try and hide even the smallest detail. Fourthly, if you do ever stand trial here then I can promise you'll get as fair a hearing as you'd expect in the UK.

As for you Max, get some help. You need to lose the seedy image you've created for yourself and you desperately need medication to help you think straight. And if I were you, I wouldn't put South Africa on your list of holiday destinations.You have a history of being a pitiful scavenger who picks on the bones of tragedy. Get a proper job and let Anni's murder have respectful closure.

Methinks a similar article could be written about another case, another perpetrator, and another PR whore...

http://constitutionallyspeaking.co.za/clutching-at-straws/

Clutching at straws?
Jan 4th, 2011
by Pierre De Vos.

It might well be that Shrien Dewani is completely innocent and that he had absolutely nothing to do with the killing of his wife. However, for an innocent man he is behaving rather strangely. Instead of rushing back to South Africa to clear his name, he seems ever more desperate to avoid facing his day in court in South Africa. It reminds one rather of a famous South African politician who made sure he never got his day in court to avoid having to explain why he took millions of Rand from a crook and then did favours for that crook.

Now the Sunday Telegraph reports that Dewani fears that he will not receive a fair trial in South Africa because he will be tried by Judge President John Hlophe. For anyone with even a passing knowledge of the South African legal system, this argument must seem laughable and even a bit desperate.

As far as I know, a trial judge has not yet been allocated for the Dewani case. It is therefore far from certain that Judge President John Hlophe will hear the case. Advancing arguments at this early stage about the impossibility of receiving a fair trial based on nothing more than the possibility that the accused will be tried by a certain judge seems, well, a bit desperate and unhinged.

But even if Hlophe decides to hear the Dewani case, this does not mean that Dewani will not receive a fair trial. Now, as we all know Judge President Hlophe is a judge who has been mired in controversy, and any accused appearing before him has a right to ask the judge to recuse himself on the basis that he would not receive a fair trial. The problem for Dewani would be that such an application is almost certain to be rejected — and rightly so.

Last month the Constitutional Court in the case of Benert v Absa Bank once again dealt with the issue of when a judge should recuse him or herself. In a judgment written by Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo the Constitutional Court once again succinctly set out the legal position in South Africa on this issue:

It is, by now, axiomatic that a judicial officer who sits on a case in which he or she should not be sitting, because seen objectively, the judicial officer is either actually biased or there exists a reasonable apprehension that the judicial officer might be biased, acts in a manner that is inconsistent with the Constitution.This case concerns the apprehension of bias. The apprehension of bias may arise either from the association or interest that the judicial officer has in one of the litigants before the court or from the interest that the judicial officer has in the outcome of the case. Or it may arise from the conduct or utterances by a judicial officer prior to or during proceedings. In all these situations, the judicial officer must ordinarily recuse himself or herself. The apprehension of bias principle reflects the fundamental principle of our Constitution that courts must be independent and impartial.9 And fundamental to our judicial system is that courts must not only be independent and impartial, but they must be seen to be independent and impartial. The test for recusal which this Court has adopted is whether there is a reasonable apprehension of bias, in the mind of a reasonable litigant in possession of all the relevant facts, that a judicial officer might not bring an impartial and unprejudiced mind to bear on the resolution of the dispute before the court.

This means that the mere fact that a judge has previously acted in a controversial manner — as Hlophe has done — is not in itself ever going to be relevant. The question is whether a reasonable person with all the facts at hand, a person not animated by the racial prejudices of your average British national (or journalist), will have a real apprehension that the judge will be biased because of what the judge had done or said either before or during the trial.

Now, personally I might not want to be tried before Hlophe JP because I have been rather critical of him and I might well have a reasonable apprehension — rightly or wrongly — that Hlophe would find it difficult to be completely impartial and unprejudiced in hearing my case. But Dewani does not have any similar history with Hlophe. Neither is there any direct link between the controversies in which Hlophe had been involved in the past and the Dewani case.

No reasonable person with all the facts at hand would therefore be able to convince any court in South Africa – and indeed a court in any other reasonably functioning democracy — that there are any grounds for a reasonable apprehension of bias by Hlophe in the Dewani case. Hlophe has not made any utterances about the case and neither can any of his previous actions or utterances be linked in any way with the facts or the circumstances of the Dewani case.

Dewani is, of course, free to rush back to South Africa to stand trial and if he were to be tried by Hlophe he would have a right at any time to ask for the recusal of the judge if anything happens during his trial that gives rise to a reasonable apprehension of bias on the part of Judge President Hlophe. Dewani would similarly be entitled to ask for the recusal of any other judge allocated by Hlophe to hear the case — but only if there are real reasons for Dewani to fear that he would not receive a fair trial.

In effect, these arguments presented by Dewani and his spin doctors are less about legal issues than about an attempt to win the media war. I suspect Dewani and his spin doctor Max Clifford has decided to try and create sympathy for Dewani by playing into fears and prejudices of the UK public about whether an Englishman could ever get a fair trial in “deepest and darkest Africa”. IF I was a member of the UK public I would be rather sceptical about this transparent move to tap into the racial prejudices of the public or the erstwhile colonial master and would ask: if Dewani is innocent — as he claims — why is he not rushing to South Africa to clear his name?

IF I was a member of the UK public I would be rather sceptical about this transparent move to tap into the racial prejudices of the public or the erstwhile colonial master and would ask: if Dewani is innocent — as he claims — why is he not rushing to South Africa to clear his name?

Oh indeed we are Mr. De Vos , and most of us are sick to death of rent-a-gob spin doctor interference in criminal cases, including Barbie dolls, cuddle cats and all the other paraphernalia cynically employed to create an illusion of innocence. Actions really do speak louder than words.

Bitter rift revealed between families of honeymoon couple: 'I wouldn’t have left a dog to die like that,' says Anni Dewani's uncle

By Ian Gallagher
Last updated at 12:27 AM on 9th January 2011

* Comments (5)
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The uncle of murdered bride Anni Dewani has lambasted her husband for not doing enough to protect her on the night she was shot dead on honeymoon in Cape Town.

‘I wouldn’t have left my dog like that,’ said Ashok Hindocha. ‘I would never in my life have done that.’

Mrs Dewani and her husband Shrien Dewani – who faces extradition over claims that he ordered the killing – were ambushed in a township near the city on November 13.
Anni Dewani

Questions: The uncle of Anni Dewani claimed 'things weren't right' between the couple

She was driven off by two gunmen who put a bullet through her neck after they forced her husband out of the car. But in an interview with The Mail on Sunday, Mr

Hindocha poured scorn on 31-year-old Mr Dewani’s claim that he was pushed out of the rear window, and said he couldn’t understand why he ‘didn’t put up a fight’.

Until now, none of Anni’s family has publicly outlined their concerns with such candour.

Mr Hindocha speaks of the existence of text messages and letters which, he claims, demonstrate that his 28-year-old niece ‘wasn’t happy’ after the wedding and that ‘things weren’t right between the couple’.

Concerns: Ashok Hindocha, uncle of murdered bride Anni Dewani, said the couple had problems

A message she sent a friend six days before she died said: ‘Crying has become my new hobby.’

Mr Dewani, who is on £250,000 bail at home in Bristol, has insisted he and his wife were ‘blissfully happy’ and has dismissed as ‘ludicrous’ South African claims that he masterminded her murder. He says he is being smeared by a police force desperate to protect the tourist industry.

Mr Hindocha – the brother of Anni’s father – reveals the rift that has developed between the two families; the ‘desperate’

PR campaign conducted by the Dewanis; and the moment during his niece’s memorial service when he lost his temper and cried: ‘Please stop this torture.’

Speaking from his home in Mariestad, Sweden, he said: ‘They were projecting photos from the wedding – pictures we hadn’t seen before – on to a big screen. Children were crying and shaking.

'I was really annoyed and that’s when I shouted. They were torturing the children. My brother had an empty look and was walking around like a zombie. I told him, “Let’s go, let’s just go from here.” I was angry, I was really annoyed.’

Mr Hindocha first became troubled a few days before his niece’s funeral. At that stage, Mr Dewani, a millionaire care-home boss, was a week away from being formally named as a suspect.

Mr Hindocha said: ‘We went to Shrien’s house in Bristol because my brother’s wife wanted to see where Anni would have lived.

‘Everyone was sitting in the kitchen, ten or 15 people from both families, and Shrien addressed us for about half an hour, explaining for the first time what happened.

‘He told us he was thrown out of the window of the car. He could have struggled, he is not a small person – he is 6ft I think – and those guys weren’t big. He could have put up a fight. He had a chance.

‘Anni is a strong girl. If Shrien had fought back she would have definitely got involved. She was very sporty – she played hockey at the highest level – and she would have defended herself bravely.

‘It is so simple. A beautiful girl like that, two men with a gun – you know what they are going to do to her. I would not even have allowed my dog to be left like that. I would fight for the dog.’

Describing the early days of his niece’s relationship with Mr Dewani, Mr Hindocha said there were concerns in the family from the outset that he had a ‘broken engagement’ behind him.

His first fiancee was Rani Kans-agra, 26, who lives in Middlesex. Mr Hindocha said: ‘Obviously we needed the reason for the break-up – which had been initiated by Shrien – and what we were told was that the families did not get along with each other.’

Anni’s family, who live in Sweden, did not see as much as they would have liked of their future son-in-law. Then, for deeply personal reasons, Anni broke off the relationship. According to her uncle, the split lasted around a month but the couple got back together again after Anni visited Shrien in London with her cousin.

‘Our family does not know him that well,’ said Mr Hindocha. ‘Obviously we checked out his family and we found nothing unusual. Our first priority was that he was educated and that he had a job and was doing well in his business. How well we didn’t care; that wasn’t important. It was Anni’s call.

‘If Anni liked him and wanted to go ahead with it, the family had no problem with it.’

Evidently the wedding passed off well and both families were happy. But in the following days there was tension, according to Mr Hindocha, between the newlyweds.

Speaking of the text message ­saying ‘crying is my new hobby’, he said: ‘That came after the wedding, a few days before they left for the honeymoon.

‘It was crystal-clear that she wasn’t happy, that things weren’t right between them. There are far more text messages and letters but I cannot go into this because it’s evidence.’

Taxi driver Zola Tonga, 31, has already been jailed for 18 years after confessing to arranging the murder. But his sentence was reduced from 25 years after a plea bargain in which he alleged Mr Dewani asked him to hire the hitmen – a claim that is vehemently denied.

The two alleged gunmen – Xolile Mnguni, 25, and Mziwamadoda Qwabe, 23 – are due to stand trial this year.

Mr Hindocha also accused Mr Dewani’s family of using a fund set up in Anni’s memory for a ‘heartless’ PR stunt. ‘They are getting dirty,’ he said.

Friends of Mr Dewani last week said his family hoped to help build a school in India with the donations.

The appeal has so far raised £15,000. Mr Hindocha said that her family had not been consulted over plans to use the funds to help build a school.

‘This fund is for both families. We are disappointed nobody told us they were going public with this. We had not agreed the details or even knew of them,’ he said.

A member of Mr Dewani’s family insisted the fund was not a PR stunt and said it had been supported by both families. He said the plan had always been for the money to go to a school in India, but it had only recently been made public.

Max Clifford, the Dewani family’s spokesman, said the allegations against his client were ‘ludicrous’ and added: ‘It is sad that the uncle feels the way he does. But no one regrets what happened that night more than Shrien. He is having counselling three times a week and is still in a dreadful state.’

A senior South African investigator, Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Barkhuizen, will fly to London tomorrow to meet Scotland Yard detectives preparing the case for Mr Dewani’s extradition.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1345424/Honeymoon-murder-I-wouldnt-left-dog-die-like-says-Anni-Dewanis-uncle.html#ixzz1AWJjlanf

Thanks for the update, Mumbles

Evidently the wedding passed off well and both families were happy. But in the following days there was tension, according to Mr Hindocha, between the newlyweds.

Speaking of the text message ­saying ‘crying is my new hobby’, he said: ‘That came after the wedding, a few days before they left for the honeymoon.

‘It was crystal-clear that she wasn’t happy, that things weren’t right between them. There are far more text messages and letters but I cannot go into this because it’s evidence.’

Hmm... sounds like she was very, very unhappy Shrien. You lying bastard. I hope this evidence contributes to you enjoying the 'comforts' of a South African jail. And if you think some jails in the UK are tough...

mumbles wrote:
Mr Hindocha also accused Mr Dewani’s family of using a fund set up in Anni’s memory for a ‘heartless’ PR stunt. ‘They are getting dirty,’ he said.

Friends of Mr Dewani last week said his family hoped to help build a school in India with the donations.

The appeal has so far raised £15,000. Mr Hindocha said that her family had not been consulted over plans to use the funds to help build a school.

‘This fund is for both families. We are disappointed nobody told us they were going public with this. We had not agreed the details or even knew of them,’ he said.

A member of Mr Dewani’s family insisted the fund was not a PR stunt and said it had been supported by both families. He said the plan had always been for the money to go to a school in India, but it had only recently been made public.

Max Clifford, the Dewani family’s spokesman, said the allegations against his client were ‘ludicrous’ and added: ‘It is sad that the uncle feels the way he does. But no one regrets what happened that night more than Shrien. He is having counselling three times a week and is still in a dreadful state.’

Anni school plan ‘a stunt’

January 9 2011 at 09:11am
By Neal Collins

Ashok Hindocha, uncle of murdered honeymoon bride Anni Dewani, has attacked plans to build a school in her honour as a heartless publicity stunt.

On Thursday, media outlets in Britain were told a school would be built in Anni’s honour with both the Dewanis in Britain and the Hindochas in Sweden involved as well as “anybody who wishes to contribute”.

They claimed £15 000 had been raised, though yesterday morning only £9 158 had been registered on the site http://www.just giving.com/annidewani

Now Ashok says the story, widely reported in England and South Africa last week, is a “PR campaign” organised by celebrity publicist Max Clifford and the Dewani camp before Shrien’s extradition hearing in Bristol on January 20.

Dewani stands accused of paying to have his wife killed after he was released during an infamous carjacking in Gugulethu on November 13.

Clifford claims Dewani has no chance of a fair trial in South Africa if he is forced to return – and is organising a “hearts and minds” campaign to gain public support for his client.

The building of a school in western India, where the Hindochas have their roots, is seen as another chapter in that campaign.

But uncle Ashok insists Anni’s family “were not consulted” over plans to use any funds collected to help build a school.

He told Britain’s Daily Telegraph: “This fund is for both families, we are disappointed nobody told us it was going to be headline news.”

Dewani’s family insist the fund was not a PR stunt. They argue that both families have lent their support but it had only recently been made public news.

The fund website carries a blurb on the front page saying: “In loving memory of our beautiful Anni, we will be donating to a residential Kalyan Ashram School in India, locally known as ‘Ashram-Shalla’ which has approximately 500 students from the tribes around the border of Dang (Gujarat) and Nashik (Maharashtra).”

The page is linked to a Facebook tribute page to Anni Dewani. Though most of the messages are supportive of both Shrien and Anni, several contributors mention the prospect of extradition.


http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/anni-school-plan-a-stunt-1.1009571

This story appears online today. Full article here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews


Presumed guilty: a plea for my cousin Shrien Dewani


"The fate of Shrien Dewani, accused of murdering his bride, may rest with a
controversial South African judge. What hope has he of justice? His cousin Akta
Raja and Andrew Jackson offer a personal view.

Imagine being Shrien Dewani. No, really: imagine it. In a period of eight
weeks, Shrien has been married, widowed, accused of murder, imprisoned and
released on bail pending an application for his extradition to South Africa.
Mercifully, that’s more than most people will experience in a lifetime.


But in reporting on events surrounding the murder of Shrien’s wife, Anni, on
honeymoon in Cape Town, one guesses at how many commentators have imagined –
even for a moment – what it is like to be Shrien, or a member of Shrien’s or
Anni’s families at this time. Not many [...]


One is left wondering, therefore, at the lack of compassion – indeed, the
total absence of moral sense – that has marked much reporting regarding
those tragic events in November in Cape Town and beyond. After all,
imagining what it is like to be someone other than yourself, says the
novelist Ian McEwan, “is at the core of our humanity. It is the essence of
compassion, and it is the beginning of morality.”


So let us imagine ourselves into the events. You are dancing at your wedding
in Mumbai – your first dance – very happy, slightly awkward, like many
couples before you and many after.



Now you are on honeymoon, on safari near Kruger National Park. Anni’s henna
tattoos – so striking on your wedding day – are fading, but your wedding
itself remains clear in the mind. You realise, guiltily, that you didn’t
speak to everyone for as long as you’d like at the wedding, but that’s
always the way, isn’t it? You meet a lovely couple at dinner after an
evening safari drive and together you worry about mosquito bites and
malaria.
Now you’re in the back of a taxi, returning from dinner in Somerset West. You
cling to one another, flicking through photos of your safari, oblivious to
events outside. Your driver – hasn’t he been so friendly? – pulls up at a
junction in Gugulethu, and from out of the darkness loom two men with guns,
hammering on the windows.

Events shift gear and lurch sideways. You plead with the carjackers. Anni
screams and screams. You can still hear her now; you will hear her that way
for ever. But your driver has been thrown out of the car, and you are next
to go, a cold gun pressed to your ear. You stand helpless by the side of the
road, watching strange, violent men carry your beautiful wife off into the
darkness. This will be the last time you see her alive, though you don’t
know that now. What were your parting words?

Panicking and alone, achingly alone, you try to think clearly, quickly. You
have no money, no phone. But here, now, you must find Anni. How? A man
agrees to call the police. Though helpful, he doesn’t invite you into his
home, so you wait in the dark. What crosses your mind as the minutes pass?

When the police car finally arrives, it cruises the streets slowly. Does no
one understand the urgency? You call home, and they do all they can from
England. The Foreign Office, private investigator, helicopter, what else,
what else? [...]Now you are on a plane home. Anni’s body is repatriated in the hold of another
plane. And now you are vulnerable, child-like, back with your parents in
Bristol. Here you are at a thanksgiving for Anni’s life, eating pizza and
chips, her favourite food. Blink and you are pressing a button, which –
unfathomably – will send your 28-year-old bride’s body into a crematorium
furnace. Then events lurch and shift gears again.

First, your friendly driver is implicated in Anni’s murder. Next he implicates
you, and in return receives a seven-year reduction in sentence, with further
possible reductions to follow. These are the desperate mechanics of justice.[...]These people know
nothing about you. [...]
But what are your chances of a fair trial in
the land of General Cele? There are no jury trials in South Africa,
remember.

Naturally, you cannot compute being tried at all, and you fear the potential
weaknesses of judge-only proceedings, particularly as a UK national – an
outsider – whose treatment by the South African police and the media has
already been prejudicial. Your fears deepen when you hear that Judge John
Hlophe, who sentenced your driver, and who may preside over any trial, is a
controversial figure. Are you sure you will be treated fairly? [...] [My addition: In the comments that follow this story somebody points out that the judge who tried the accuser of Dewani would not be allowed to try the accused - as qualified lawyers you'd think these two would know that.]
If Shrien Dewani is extradited to South Africa, it is our moral duty to ensure
that he is treated humanely, and as an innocent man. The British Government
should work tirelessly to ensure this. Imagine you were Shrien. You should
not have to set foot in a South African jail pending any trial. And you
should be assured of justice, including a judge whose reputation is beyond
question.

But the case should never get that far, of course. [...]

 Akta Raja is a first cousin of Shrien Dewani. Both Akta and Andrew Jackson
practised law in England before embarking on other careers."


I won't comment on the style of this article, as I'm sure people will
have their own opinions, apart from saying that it reads like a romance
novel. Some of the phrases sound very familiar. The sentence, "You meet
a lovely couple at dinner..." brings to mind the media producer who
wrote an (similarly styled) article about meeting the McCanns in Pria de
Luz, where she was holidaying with her husband.

- A young woman is murdered on her honeymoon, but does this article tell us anything about her? Her
personality, hopes, dreams? It's solely concerned with presenting a picture of
a corrupt nation waiting to get an innocent young man into its clutches, never
to let him go. Of course, before Dewani
can be tried in a South African court, they have to get him there. This involves an extradition process that
will only be cooperated with by the UK courts if there’s sufficient evidence to
gain a conviction in court, and the person extradited will not be
subject to an unfair trial, or abuse of his human rights. Cue the PR machine, promoting the stories of
a corrupt system.

JeJune,

Says it all really! Get the PR machine rolling and try an avoid a trial.

John Hlope or not, Dewani will receive a fair trial in SA. The judiciary here is renowned for its integrity and impartiality. In any event the constitution of the country guarantees anyone, regardless of nationality, the right to demand the recusal of any judge they feel might compromise their case. Additionally, Dewani will have a multi-staged appeal process made available to him should he feel aggrieved at the outcome or verdict of his trial. He knows this full well - as does his spin doctor, who spends time here with relatives that live in the country.

Just as in the McCann case, the perpetrator's fear of returning is being spun into an unsubstantiated and unjustified attack against the country where the crime was committed. And the 'spinner' does not give a shit about justice - just money.

By the way, the South Africans' extradition appeal was linked to a separate request for legal assistance from certain 'sources' in the UK. I hope that both of these will be viewed favourably over there.

Just six days to go before you will undoubtedly launch an appeal, Shrien. More lies from you and bluster from your PR. You'll never be able to dig yourself out of that hole though...

docmac wrote:John Hlope or not, Dewani will receive a fair trial in SA. The judiciary here is renowned for its integrity and impartiality. In any event the constitution of the country guarantees anyone, regardless of nationality, the right to demand the recusal of any judge they feel might compromise their case. Additionally, Dewani will have a multi-staged appeal process made available to him should he feel aggrieved at the outcome or verdict of his trial. He knows this full well - as does his spin doctor, who spends time here with relatives that live in the country.

Just as in the McCann case, the perpetrator's fear of returning is being spun into an unsubstantiated and unjustified attack against the country where the crime was committed. And the 'spinner' does not give a shit about justice - just money.

By the way, the South Africans' extradition appeal was linked to a separate request for legal assistance from certain 'sources' in the UK. I hope that both of these will be viewed favourably over there.

Just six days to go before you will undoubtedly launch an appeal, Shrien. More lies from you and bluster from your PR. You'll never be able to dig yourself out of that hole though...

I concur with you Docmac. All this hype from Shrien is so,so familiar and totally indicative of a man running away from the truth.

docmac wrote:

mumbles wrote:
Mr Hindocha also accused Mr Dewani’s family of using a fund set up in Anni’s memory for a ‘heartless’ PR stunt. ‘They are getting dirty,’ he said.

Friends of Mr Dewani last week said his family hoped to help build a school in India with the donations.

The appeal has so far raised £15,000. Mr Hindocha said that her family had not been consulted over plans to use the funds to help build a school.

‘This fund is for both families. We are disappointed nobody told us they were going public with this. We had not agreed the details or even knew of them,’ he said.

A member of Mr Dewani’s family insisted the fund was not a PR stunt and said it had been supported by both families. He said the plan had always been for the money to go to a school in India, but it had only recently been made public.

Max Clifford, the Dewani family’s spokesman, said the allegations against his client were ‘ludicrous’ and added: ‘It is sad that the uncle feels the way he does. But no one regrets what happened that night more than Shrien. He is having counselling three times a week and is still in a dreadful state.’

Anni school plan ‘a stunt’

January 9 2011 at 09:11am
By Neal Collins

Ashok Hindocha, uncle of murdered honeymoon bride Anni Dewani, has attacked plans to build a school in her honour as a heartless publicity stunt.

On Thursday, media outlets in Britain were told a school would be built in Anni’s honour with both the Dewanis in Britain and the Hindochas in Sweden involved as well as “anybody who wishes to contribute”.

They claimed £15 000 had been raised, though yesterday morning only £9 158 had been registered on the site http://www.just giving.com/annidewani

Now Ashok says the story, widely reported in England and South Africa last week, is a “PR campaign” organised by celebrity publicist Max Clifford and the Dewani camp before Shrien’s extradition hearing in Bristol on January 20.

Dewani stands accused of paying to have his wife killed after he was released during an infamous carjacking in Gugulethu on November 13.

Clifford claims Dewani has no chance of a fair trial in South Africa if he is forced to return – and is organising a “hearts and minds” campaign to gain public support for his client.

The building of a school in western India, where the Hindochas have their roots, is seen as another chapter in that campaign.

But uncle Ashok insists Anni’s family “were not consulted” over plans to use any funds collected to help build a school.

He told Britain’s Daily Telegraph: “This fund is for both families, we are disappointed nobody told us it was going to be headline news.”

Dewani’s family insist the fund was not a PR stunt. They argue that both families have lent their support but it had only recently been made public news.

The fund website carries a blurb on the front page saying: “In loving memory of our beautiful Anni, we will be donating to a residential Kalyan Ashram School in India, locally known as ‘Ashram-Shalla’ which has approximately 500 students from the tribes around the border of Dang (Gujarat) and Nashik (Maharashtra).”

The page is linked to a Facebook tribute page to Anni Dewani. Though most of the messages are supportive of both Shrien and Anni, several contributors mention the prospect of extradition.


http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/anni-school-plan-a-stunt-1.1009571

So many parallels. Where does one start? I'll start with this one - But uncle Ashok insists Anni’s family “were not consulted” over plans to use any funds collected to help build a school. Mari-Luz Cortés on a poster, anyone?

'He is having counselling three times a week and is still in a dreadful state.’ Have the McCanns had any counselling, apart from Clarence Mitchell and Carter Ruck? You'd think that anybody who had lost a child - not matter the circumstances - would need, and receive, counselling. But then, that would mean explaining ones problems to the counsellor.

Max Clifford, the Dewani family’s spokesman, said the allegations against his client were ‘ludicrous’ and added: ‘It is sad that the uncle feels the way he does. But no one regrets what happened that night more than Shrien. He is having counselling three times a week and is still in a dreadful state.’


The words seem so familiar.

Look in a mirror Clarence Mitchell and who do you see, Max Clifford.

True social pariahs of the worst guide.

I hate the bloody word "ludicrious" with a vengeance.

I think the meaning of "ludicrous" needs to be updated in the dictionery to reflect it's misuse.

SteveT wrote:I think the meaning of "ludicrous" needs to be updated in the dictionery to reflect it's misuse.

New meaning for 'ludicrous'..................

We know it's the truth,but our clients are lying bas....s


I also wonder why Max Clifford wouldn't represent the Mccanns. Were they too soiled even for him.

SHRIEN DEWANI IS NEXT

January 15 2011 at 05:39pm
By Thabiso Thakali, Melanie Peters and Kevin Ritchie


A convicted rapist was successfully extradited to South Africa yesterday - six days before government lawyers begin their legal bid to get Shrien Dewani into a Cape Town court.

Yesterday Hawks divisional commander General Godfrey Lebeya was at OR Tambo airport to ensure fugitive Hans Joachim Klaar, 47, was returned to KwaZulu-Natal to start serving his six-year jail sentence for raping a Pietermaritzburg woman in 1996.

Dewani, fingered by a state witness for orchestrating the murder of his new wife, Anni, 28, in a staged hijacking in Gugulethu, Cape Town on November 13, has ignored all appeals to return to South Africa to assist police.

Instead he has hired British PR expert Max Clifford to mount a public defence claiming he will not get a fair trial in South Africa.

Dewani is currently on bail and living under curfew at his Passage Road home in Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol. He has repeatedly denied the allegations, and his family and lawyers have branded the case against him “flawed and flimsy”.

Yesterday Britain’s Evening Post reported that friends of Dewani claimed a fair trial was impossible. “They fear the care home owner could be killed if he is put in a South African prison to await a trial, and say the accusations are ... a conspiracy to protect the country’s tourism industry.”

Yesterday police spokesman Colonel McIntosh Polela said Dewani could expect the same treatment as Klaar.

“Klaar tried to claim he shouldn’t be extradited on humanitarian grounds, citing the state of our prisons. Dewani has been claiming he won’t get a fair trial.

“We’ve seen through that. Instead of shutting up and following the process, Mr Dewani has, from his side, decided to defend his case from thousands of miles away, using PR to try to clear his name instead of coming here to do so in court.

“He’s taken titbits of the case and is trying the case through the media, besmirching South Africa’s reputation in the process. He’s trying to divert attention from the fact that a young woman died and a family is grieving.

“It doesn’t matter how long it takes, in the end we’ll have Mr Dewani coming through O R Tambo to the full glare of cameras and then he will go to Cape Town to face the music.

“There’ll just be him in the witness stand and his lawyer in the court and then we’ll debate the facts and not the circus.”

Veteran South African detective Lieutenant Colonel Mike Barkhuizen, 53, an expert on contract murders, is in London working with Scotland Yard detectives and British justice officials preparing for Dewani’s extradition hearing on Thursday.

Barkhuizen, known by some colleagues as a “bull terrier”, has 33 years’ experience and a high success rate. Investigations in which he has been involved include the Dina Rodrigues case, the Taliep Petersen murder, the Marike de Klerk killing and the Sizzlers massacre.

He was also involved in the hunt for the Station Strangler and investigations into several bombings in Cape Town.

National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Tlali Tlali said: “There are leads that must be followed in the UK in order to complete the puzzle. We need to make sure the case is watertight.”

Polela said: “We are confident we have assembled the best team, which includes Barkhuizen, and we have absolute confidence that they will return with Dewani.”

Yesterday dressed in jeans and brown T-shirt emblazoned with the words “United As One”, and handcuffed, Klaar walked through the O R Tambo International arrivals hall under heavy police guard before being transported to KZN.

He was arrested on December 14, 2009 after New Zealand authorities intercepted Klaar when he entered Opua, Northland on board his yacht, ending 11 years on the run.

After his arrest, South African authorities applied for his extradition which Klaar tried to oppose on humanitarian grounds. When he lost the appeal, members of the SAP fugitive unit were sent over to escort him back.

Lebeya said Klaar was likely to face another charge of contempt of court for failing to present himself to the authorities after he lost his appeal.

The police would also look at other possible charges involving his businesses

Lebeya said the arrest and successful extradition of Klaar would send a clear message to criminals that the world was getting smaller.

“We hope it will send a strong message to those who opt for a life on the run instead of facing the consequences of their actions - that no matter how long it takes, the tentacles of justice will eventually catch up with them,” he warned.

“This is a victory for us because it goes to show that there is co-operation between different countries and that there is no place in the world to hide.” - Saturday Star

http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/gauteng/shrien-dewani-is-next-1.1012340

POPPY1 wrote:

SteveT wrote:I think the meaning of "ludicrous" needs to be updated in the dictionery to reflect it's misuse.

New meaning for 'ludicrous'..................

We know it's the truth,but our clients are lying bas....s


I also wonder why Max Clifford wouldn't represent the Mccanns. Were they too soiled even for him.

Wouldn't or never got the chance? I thought Clifford was sniffing around the case, but Mitchell was so firmly ensconced that he had to try for the consolation prize of Murat and failed. Isn't this why he's strutting his stuff with Dewani complete with ludicrous barbie doll or did I miss something?

Max Clifford is an altruistic man who gave his time to Murat - for free - because he was a victim of character assassination.

Look:
http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/832833/Max-Clifford-not-happy-Robert-Murat-no-longer-advising-arguido-suspect-free/

Wallflower wrote:Max Clifford is an altruistic man who gave his time to Murat - for free - because he was a victim of character assassination.

Look:
http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/832833/Max-Clifford-not-happy-Robert-Murat-no-longer-advising-arguido-suspect-free/

Max Clifford gave Robert Murat free consultation expecting that he was about to be retained by him on a full time basis. (imo)

pennylane wrote:

Wallflower wrote:Max Clifford is an altruistic man who gave his time to Murat - for free - because he was a victim of character assassination.

Look:
http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/832833/Max-Clifford-not-happy-Robert-Murat-no-longer-advising-arguido-suspect-free/

Max Clifford gave Robert Murat free consultation expecting that he was about to be retained by him on a full time basis. (imo)

Didn't he then get a litle peeved when Robert Murat dumped him?

mumbles wrote:

pennylane wrote:

Wallflower wrote:Max Clifford is an altruistic man who gave his time to Murat - for free - because he was a victim of character assassination.

Look:
http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/832833/Max-Clifford-not-happy-Robert-Murat-no-longer-advising-arguido-suspect-free/

Max Clifford gave Robert Murat free consultation expecting that he was about to be retained by him on a full time basis. (imo)

Didn't he then get a litle peeved when Robert Murat dumped him?

Yes, Clifford was bitter about all the freebies he gave Murat, only for him to hire someone else - so much so that he aired his grievances publicly.

Wallflower wrote:Max Clifford is an altruistic man who gave his time to Murat - for free - because he was a victim of character assassination.

Look:
http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/832833/Max-Clifford-not-happy-Robert-Murat-no-longer-advising-arguido-suspect-free/

Right! and Clarence Mitchell is helping the McCanns out of the goodness of his heart because he cannot bear to see the reputations of two wonderful and totally innocent parents dragged through the mire.

It's getting a little hot in the kitchen as Thursday gets ever closer...

"Shrien, you'll die in SA"

http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/shrien-you-ll-die-in-sa-1.1012475

Thanks doc,

"Vyas told the Bristol Evening Post: “Why does he have to go there for a trial? In South Africa you can buy anything, including the law. "


Well it certainly sounds like a win win for Mr Dewani then!

pennylane wrote:Thanks doc,

"Vyas told the Bristol Evening Post: “Why does he have to go there for a trial? In South Africa you can buy anything, including the law. "


Well it certainly sounds like a win win for Mr Dewani then!

Unfrigging believable, but where have we seen all this hysteria before

and which couple hired an extradition lawyer who defended the mass murderer Pinochet