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Dewani’s court case postponed in Cape Town

Extradited British millionaire businessman Shrien Dewani briefly appeared in a Cape Town court on Monday, with his lawyers successfully arguing he was not yet fit to stand trial on charges of ordering his Swedish wife's murder.

Dewani's court case postponed in Cape Town
Photo: TT
Extradited British millionaire businessman Shrien Dewani briefly appeared in a Cape Town court on Monday, with his lawyers successfully arguing he was not yet fit to stand trial on charges of ordering his Swedish wife's murder.
   
Judge John Hlope ordered Dewani to appear in court again on June 20 and he was remanded in custody at the Valkenberg psychiatric hospital where he has been receiving treatment since his arrival in South Africa last month.
   
Dewani, 34, glanced nervously around him in the dock as his lawyers said psychiatrists had told them Dewani had been cooperative but lacked the ability to concentrate for any length of time.
   
They were hopeful that his condition would improve, lawyer Francois van Zyl told the court.
   
Dewani, who returned to Britain shortly after his wife's murder in 2010, had fought his extradition for three years, claiming he had mental health problems including depression and post-traumatic stress.
   
If he is not found fit to face trial within 18 months, he will be returned to Britain under the terms of his extradition.
   
Dewani denies ordering the killing of his 28-year-old bride Anni in Cape Town in November 2010.
   
He claims the couple were kidnapped at gunpoint during their honeymoon as they drove through the Gugulethu township in a taxi.
   
Dewani escaped unharmed, but his wife's body was found in the abandoned car the next day. She had been shot dead.
   
Prosecutors allege Dewani hired South African Xolile Mngeni to kill Anni.
 
Mngeni was jailed for life for the murder in December 2012.
   
Two other men also jailed over the killing allege that Dewani ordered the hit.

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STRIKES

Swedish appeals court throws out Tesla licence plate complaint

A Swedish appeals court rejected Tesla's attempt to force the Transport Agency to provide them with licence plates during an ongoing strike.

Swedish appeals court throws out Tesla licence plate complaint

The Göta Court of Appeal upheld a decision by the district court to throw out a request by US car manufacturer Tesla to force the Swedish Transport Agency to provide them with licence plates, on the grounds that a general court does not have jurisdiction in this case.

The district court and court of appeal argued that Tesla should instead have taken its complaint to an administrative court (förvaltningsdomstol) rather than a general court (allmän domstol).

According to the rules regulating the Transport Agency’s role in issuing licence plates in Sweden, their decisions should be appealed to an administrative court – a separate part of the court system which tries cases involving a Swedish public authority, rather than criminal cases or disputes between individuals which are tried by the general courts.

The dispute arose after postal service Postnord, in solidarity with a major strike by the Swedish metalworkers’ union, refused to deliver licence plates to Tesla, and the Transport Agency argued it wasn’t their responsibility to get the plates to Tesla in some other way.

The strike against Tesla has been going on for almost seven months.

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