Millionaire British businessman Shrien Dewani denied arranging his bride’s murder during their honeymoon in South Africa on the first day of his trial on Monday, four years after she was found shot dead in an abandoned car.
A tired looking Dewani, 34, dressed in a black suit and white shirt, appeared before Judge Jeanette Traverso at the Cape High Court packed with media and Anni’s family, who wore ribbons and smiling pictures of her pinned on their jackets.
“I plead not guilty to all five counts, my lady,” Dewani told the judge on the first day of his trial, after the state’s prosecutor read out the charges including murder, kidnapping and robbery with aggravating circumstances.
If found guilty, he could spend up to 25 years in jail.
Dewani was extradited from Britain in April after losing a three-year battle to avoid trial in South Africa.
Pretoria spent millions of rand securing Dewani’s return, keen to win a conviction in a case that tarnished South Africa’s image soon after it successfully hosted the Soccer World Cup.
The 34-year-old was implicated in his wife’s death by three co-accused who agreed to testify for the state in exchange for lesser sentences. He has denied any involvement in the killing.
Anni Dewani was shot dead in a taxi in November 2010 in Khayelitsha township on the outskirts of Cape Town. Dewani faces a minimum of 25 years if found guilty of the five charges he faces.