The Stream

#JusticeForAnni: South Africans criticise court for throwing out murder case

British citizen cleared of murdering wife during 2010 honeymoon trip to South Africa.

Twitter users are expressing anger over a judge’s decision to throw out a murder case against Shrien Dewani, a British man accused of killing his wife on their honeymoon to South Africa.

The judge in the case said evidence needed for conviction fell “far below” the standard. Dewani was charged with hiring hit men to kill his wife, Anni, in November 2010 and extradited to South Africa this year for trial. Dewani denied involvement in his wife’s murder. 

According to the judge, the testimony of the prosecution’s main witnesses, three South African men who admitted involvement in the murder, was “riddled with contradictions“. 

Anni Dewani’s family said they were “deeply disappointed” and that the South African justice system failed them. Online, many used #JusticeForAnni to echo the family’s sentiment: