SCA to hear state’s new appeal on Hani killer’s parole

The state’s appeal against judgment handed down by the High Court in Pretoria last year to release the killer of SA Communist Party (SACP) leader Chris Hani on parole will reportedly be heard in the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) next month.

The Sunday Tribune reported at the weekend that Polish immigrant Janusz Walus’s lawyer confirmed argument would be heard by the SCA in Bloemfontein on May 5, almost a month after the 24th anniversary of Hani’s death.

Hani was shot and killed by Walus on Easter Sunday, 10 April, 1993. Walus was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in October 1993, but this was later commuted to life imprisonment.

His co-conspirator in the murder of Hani, Clive Derby-Lewis, died last year from cancer, just a few months after his release on parole.

In April last year, Justice Minister Michael Masutha’s application for leave to appeal an earlier high court judgment which ordered the release of Walus was dismissed by the court.

Walus’s application to be released on parole was initially turned down by Masutha, after which the convicted murderer sought the intervention of the high court to make a ruling for him to be released on parole.

On 10 March 2016, the high court ordered that Walus be released on parole within 14 days, prompting Masutha to apply for leave to appeal.

In its message on the 24th anniversary of Hani’s death, the SACP said the anti-apartheid activist remained the embodiment of a true and honest leader, who never sought to advance his personal interests above those of the poor.

– Additional reporting African News Agency (ANA)

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