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S. African court dismisses government's application against release of convicted killer of SACP leader

Xinhua, April 14, 2016 Adjust font size:

The High Court in Pretoria on Thursday dismissed the government's application for leave to appeal the release on parole of Janusz Walus, convicted killer of South African Communist Party (SACP) leader Chris Hani.

"The first respondent's application to apply for leave to appeal is dismissed,"Judge Nicoline Janse van Nieuwenhuizen said while delivering the ruling.

Walus, a Polish immigrant, shot Hani dead in the driveway of his Boksburg home near Johannesburg on April 10, 1993 in a move aimed at deterring attempts to end apartheid.

Walnus was initially sentenced to death but that was converted to life in prison after the abolition of capital punishment in South Africa. He has spent nearly 23 years in prison.

Earlier this year, the South African Parole Board decided to have Walus released on parole. But Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Michael Masutha approached the court, arguing that it erred in its judgment when it ruled that Walnus should be granted parole.

Masutha said he was not convinced that Walus has shown any remorse or has tried hard enough to make amends with Hani's family.

In response to the ruling, the Hani family said it will go to the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein.

"She (the judge) is not God, we have other courts to go to," Hani's widow Limpho Hani told reporters.

"As black people in this country... we will continue to fight until justice is done," Limpho Hani added.

She expressed her bitter disappointment with Van Nieuwenhuizen's judgment and accused her of not being fair. Enditem