Still no progress in murder trial

Saturday 27 April 2019

It has now been six months since any progress was made in the trial of the man accused of murdering Sarah Groves.

The 153rd scheduled hearing was due to take place yesterday but could not go ahead as the accused, Richard de Wit, was not taken to the court for "security reasons".

Shortly before yesterday's hearing the prosecution once again sought an adjournment. However, without the defendant in court, it was not able to proceed.

The Special Prosecutor, Mohd Sultan, also failed to attend the court. Miss Groves' family has been trying to have him replaced for some time and it is believed authorities are now actively considering the request.

Six years on from the night of Miss Groves' murder on a houseboat in Kashmir, her parents are concerned they are losing touch with integral contacts. In recent months they have fallen out of touch with a long-standing contact at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office as well as a senior human rights lawyer in the Netherlands who they had hoped would influence the course of the trial.

"It beggars belief that, with the accused being a Dutch national, few efforts appear to have been made by the Dutch establishment at any level to seek a speedy and safe outcome to the trial," said Miss Groves' father, Vic Groves. "They are highly conspicuous by their absence and they appear outwardly dismissive of 'one of their own'."

Pictured: The accused, Richard de Wit.

Mr Groves has also raised concerns about the Dutch diplomatic establishment's "refusal" to share information with its British counterparts.

He is continuing to call for intervention from the British Government: "The passage of time has progressively eroded all contacts built up since 2013 and all such initiatives taken in the past have been confirmed to the annals of history and need to be renewed."

The passage of time has also caused problems in locating the current whereabouts of some witnesses, particularly a taxi driver who was first summoned to appear on 28 March 2014. He is still yet to take the stand and there are "serious concerns" that he will never give his evidence.

"Questions must also be asked of the Kashmiri legal authorities," continued Mr Groves. "Would this trial have been so disgracefully managed if the accused and/or the victim had been of Kashmiri origin? We somehow suspect not."

Mr and Mrs Groves are hopeful that a letter sent to the Judge in the State of Jammu & Kashmir will soon have an effect, with improvements from the series of requests and recommendations expected to feed through from next month.

"We entered 2019 in the hope that a conclusion would be reached before the end of the year," Mr Groves added. "With 14 or so witnesses still to take the stand and without one single witness being heard in the past six months, the omens are not good.

"This trial cannot be allowed to drift into oblivion any longer.

"Is anyone going to put their head above the parapet and do something?"

Pictured top: Sarah Groves.