Polish immigrant Janusz Walus, who killed anti-apartheid activist Chris Hani, has applied to the Constitutional Court to obtain parole. The matter will be heard in February 2022.
Walus’s last failed bid to get parole was in March 2020 and was denied by justice minister Ronald Lamola.
‘Ever since my incarceration I have returned to my Roman Catholic faith which has helped me fully understand my wrongdoings. I have accepted the new SA, its constitution and its constitutional dispensation.’
Walus approached the ConCourt to find that the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) was wrong in dismissing his leave to appeal against a ruling delivered by the High Court.
Walus said he should have been eligible for parole after serving 13 years and four months, but there was ‘continuous shifting of the goalposts and new reasons for refusing parole by various ministers’.
In 2011 his parole hearing had not taken place with Hani’s family present. In 2013 Hani’s widow rejected Walus’s apology as self-serving and insincere.
In 2015 Walus was again denied parole due to possible ‘security threats’ he posed should he be released.
In 2017 another application was refused. He applied in January 2019 and failed, because he had ‘depression and anger management issues’. The decision to block Walus’s parole was set aside by the High Court and referred back to the justice minister for consideration.
Among Lamola’s reasons for denying parole was that the trial court which had jailed him had wanted to send a message that would clarify that assassinating political leaders was unacceptable.
Walus said it was of public importance to establish the reasons and grounds for his continued incarceration.
“If I do not succeed with this application, it appears that I will be incarcerated forever, which is an unjust, inhumane and cruel punishment,” he said.