Walus parole: advocate urges judges to look back at ‘93
The court should have taken the remarks made at the time of Janusz Walus's sentencing into account when it decided upon parole, a court heard.
|||Pretoria - The high Court in Pretoria will deliver its judgment on Thursday on whether leave is granted to Justice Minister Michael Masutha to appeal against the ruling that Chris Hani’s killer Janusz Walus should be placed on parole.
Masuta wants a full bench (three judges) of the high court to take another look at the ruling made last month by Judge Nicolene Janse van Nieuwenhuizen to grant Walus parole, the court heard on Tuesday.
It was argued on behalf of the minister that the court erred in finding that Walus should be freed.
According to Advocate Marumo Moerane SC, the court should have taken the remarks made at the time of Walus and his then co-accused Clive Derby-Lewis’s sentencing into account when it decided upon parole.
Judge Frikkie Eloff in October 1993 remarked that the Hani assassination was reprehensible and that it could have sparked a blood bath.
Moerane said the nature of the crime and the sentencing remarks were the most important issues which had to be considered.
He pointed out that while killing an icon during apartheid, Walus and Derby-Lewis in fact gained from the new government, as their death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment.
It was argued on behalf of Walus that he had paid his dues and that in terms of the law, he was eligible for parole.
Hani’s widow, Limpho Hani and members of the SACP were in court on Tuesday.
Members of the SACP sported placards that his assassin should “rot in jail.”
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Pretoria News