Sunday, December 19, 2010

DEWANI/Clifford spin 'He may be a crook but he is not a murderer

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1340108/The-honeymoon-murder-groom-PR-guru-public-fightback.html

It seems Max Clifford thinks it would be a good move to  allow 'comments' under these articles. I would imagine he wants a public poll to see if his PR strategy is working. Anni's family must be apalled to witness this farce. Max Clifford can spin all he wants, the truth will only be known when Shrien Dewani faces a judge and the facts are heard and not the drivel of PR Gurus. I think we all  realise that the British press are not to be trusted and the 'victim's' in England are the alleged perpertrators, protected by the press and our disgraced British Goverment.

The spinning trying to explain  why Dewani said he had to ring his family for the taxi registration number of Tongos car...and he did say taxi reg and not telephone number Dewanis male secretary saying the car was pre-booked in England would appear vital , as this suggests the hit was arranged in London. If this can be proven Dewani is in big trouble.

http://dewanimystery.blogspot.com/2010/12/dewani-first-witnessdid-dewani-family.html

Registration number of the car DEWANI answered ? I will have to ring home'


The honeymoon murder groom, his PR guru and a very public fightback

By Sue Reid
Last updated at 1:43 AM on 20th December 2010
At Max Clifford Associates in ­Mayfair, the lights are burning late this Christmas. The PR man is busy defending the reputation of a highly controversial new client, the British bridegroom accused of arranging the murder of his bride on honeymoon in South Africa.

 
Clifford, who became Shrien Dewani’s spokesman two days after the businessman flew back to Britain with his wife’s coffin in the aircraft hold, says the ­allegations are ‘untrue’, ‘ludicrous’, ‘hurtful’ and ‘ridiculous’.

 
In what appeared to be an orchestrated campaign by Clifford, a number of Sunday newspapers published stories and video images which supported Dewani’s fervent denials that he was in any way to blame for his wife’s death after she was kidnapped then shot in the neck by two men near Cape Town five weeks ago.
Enlarge   First dance: The pair hold one another in stills from their wedding video released by the groom's family
First dance: The pair hold one another in stills from their wedding video released by the groom's family
A family video of the couple dancing at their £200,000 Mumbai wedding in October was released on the internet as part of the fight to clear 30-year-old Dewani’s name. It shows him and his bride Anni laughing and smiling as they dance together to a Hindi song – Pehla Nasha, or First Love – from a Bollywood hit movie.

Relatives of the wealthy British businessman yesterday released the footage as they began a fightback against the ‘ridiculous allegations’ that he ordered her murder.

 
One family member said Dewani was torn apart by losing ‘the woman of his dreams’.

He said: ‘He’s distraught and devastated, he’s lost weight and is completely shaken.
‘He’s traumatised, he can’t sleep, he can’t eat, he keeps getting flashbacks.’

 
Images were also released of Anni holding up a box containing an Indian Barbie doll – a private joke between the couple referring to Dewani’s pet name for his bride.
Family video: Footage of the couple's wedding has been released online in an effort to clear Shrien's name
Family video: Footage of the couple's wedding has been released online in an effort to clear Shrien's name

South African authorities want to extradite Bristol care home owner Dewani, who was granted £250,000 bail in the British courts earlier this month. But his relative said the family’s faith in the system in South Africa has been badly diminished by ‘comments from people in positions of seniority, power and influence’.


‘Shrien is not a monkey, a murderer or evil,’ he added, referring to remarks by senior police and politicians in South Africa.The family rubbished claims that Dewani had been involved in a previous murder in South Africa; or that he stood to gain from his wife’s life insurance policy; or that he was having a homosexual affair with a rent boy.

 
The relative said: ‘There was no pre-nuptial agreement, no dowry, no pressure from the family.
Lavish celebration: The couple were married in Mumbai in October, in a ceremony which cost around £200,000
Lavish celebration: The couple were married in Mumbai in October, in a ceremony which cost around £200,000

‘They had dated, decided they wanted to marry and arranged their own wedding in India. Shrien wanted to have a family with Anni and plan a future with her. In his words, he has been robbed of his entire life.’

 

The case against Dewani is based on accusations made by taxi driver Zola Tongo as part of a plea bargain with the authorities over his involvement in the murder.

 

Tongo drove the newlyweds to a township where his cab was hijacked, he and Dewani were ejected and Anni – who originally lived in Sweden – was driven off and killed by two gunmen.
Now behind bars, the cabbie claims Dewani offered him 15,000 rand (£1,400) to set up the killing.

‘The taxi driver’s gain in this is a significant reduction in his ­sentence,’ the family spokesman pointed out.
Dewani’s relatives yesterday said: ‘There are ongoing proceedings and we don’t want to prejudice this in any way, but the suggestion that Shrien was able to walk into an airport and 25 minutes after meeting a random taxi driver to mastermind a contract killing is, as his lawyer has said, implausible in the extreme.’
Before the tragedy: The video shows the pair laughing and dancing to a Hindi song, Pehla Nasha
Before the tragedy: The video shows the pair laughing and dancing to a Hindi song, Pehla Nasha

His friends and relatives also insist he made every possible effort to save Anni once she was taken.

 

‘He was ejected from the cab and was in a township and didn’t know where he was,’ they said. ‘He went knocking on doors and tried to summon help. Immediately he made efforts to contact police. When a patrol officer came along Shrien said, “We need to trace the car as quickly as possible”.’
The happy couple: Shrien and Anni Dewani pose for a wedding photo before their fateful honeymoon in South Africa
The happy couple: Shrien and Anni Dewani pose for a wedding photo before their fateful honeymoon in South Africa

In an urgent attempt to track down his bride, he asked family in the UK to try to access the server of his stolen BlackBerry to retrieve the number of the taxi driver and contact Vodafone to help trace his and Anni’s stolen phones.

 
Although for legal reasons they would not comment on claims that CCTV footage pictured Dewani meeting Tongo some days later and handing over money, friends and relatives pointed out that if he had left the country without settling the taxi fare he would have been accused of failing to pay his debts.

They added that the amount allegedly handed over – 1,000 rand (£94) – seemed to be the same amount as a day’s taxi fare.
This week South African police said Dewani should go back to allow their courts to decide the case.

Max Clifford responded that his client is worshipping at a shrine to his wife at his family’s Bristol home and is receiving counselling for depression. The PR man has poured scorn on the South African justice system and claims his client cannot receive a fair trial. (An intriguing footnote is that it now transpires Dewani pretended to the owners of the safari lodge which the couple visited on honeymoon that he was a travel agent to get 90 per cent off the £3,600 cost of the stay. The owners now want the cash back, though Mr Clifford points out that this duplicity does not make Dewani a murderer.)

 
Meanwhile, Anni’s grieving father this week begged his son-in-law to return to Africa. Like him, there are many who believe that only by doing that can Shrien Dewani – her handsome bridegroom in that touching wedding video – uncover the truth about why she died.





Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1340108/The-honeymoon-murder-groom-PR-guru-public-fightback.html#ixzz18dW5mAgq