The widow of slain SACP leader Chris Hani is opposing the new bid for the release of his assassin Janusz Walus to be freed on parole.
Pretoria – The widow of slain SACP leader Chris Hani is opposing the new bid for the release of his assassin Janusz Walus to be freed on parole.
According to Limpho Hani, the assassination of her husband was a crime unlike many others in the country.
In her opposing affidavit filed yesterday, Hani said the April 10, 1993, killing shocked the very core of a free and democratic society which the country was trying to build at the time.
In asking the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, to dismiss his application, she set out her reasons in a 48-page affidavit. It included that she did not accept Walus’s apology to her and claim of remorse.
Hani said it was her right not to accept his apology and no one could force her to forgive him.
She asked that if the court was inclined to overturn the decision by Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola earlier this year to refuse parole, the court should refer the matter back to the minister for reconsideration.
In his application, Walus is asking the court to order that he is released on parole, or alternatively refer the matter back to the minister.
At the least, he is asking to be released on day parole.
The minister, in his opposing papers to this latest application, is still insisting that Walus must remain behind bars.
He referred to the harsh words the court had when it sentenced him to death at the time. The sentence was later commuted to life when the death sentence was abolished.
Hani in her papers agreed with the minister and said the sentencing remarks at the time were relevant when the death penalty was imposed.
The judge said the sentence should send a clear message that the assassination of political leaders would not be tolerated.
He also called it cold blooded and deliberate.
Hani pointed out that the TRC at the time refused him amnesty for the murder, as he did not make a full disclosure. She said the application was self-centred and a bid to escape retribution for his crime.
She maintained that Walus was not remorseful for his actions, and called it a heinous crime. “Not only did he take the life of a father and a husband, but also a man who, along with his comrades in the Struggle, was an architect of our constitutional democracy.
“As such the crime was one which shook a nation that was crafting a new society to its core.”
She said her husband’s killing was intended to be the first of many political assassinations. His name was the third on a list of 16 earmarked for death as their political views differed from that of Walus.
Other names included Nelson Mandela, Mac Maharaj and Pik Botha.
Hani added that if Walus was freed and sent back to Poland, he would be received with open arms and as a hero there by the growing white fascists.
She and the SACP, will, however, first have to overcome the hurdle of filing their answering affidavit out of time. They will have to apply with the court for condonation in this regard.
If the court does not grant it, it would not consider her objection when hearing Walus’s application.
Hani explained that her lawyers were briefed in time, but they had too much on their plate to respond in time.
She said if the court refused to accept her affidavit, she would be denied the opportunity to speak her mind on the possible release of her husband’s killer.
The application is, meanwhile, due in court next month.
Pretoria News
