Walus must be sent back to Poland – lawyer

South African Communist Party leader Chris Hani’s killer Janusz Walus will soon be one of the longest-serving political prisoners in the country, and it was time he went back to his native Poland. The Mercury says this is according to his lawyer Julian Knight ahead of the hearing of another application in the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) on 7 October for his release on parole. Two previous Ministers of Justice had refused to release him on parole, and it was now up to incumbent Ronald Lamola, Knight said. ‘We are asking the new Minister to make a decision and hopefully he will put the law first. Walus is shortly going to serve as long a sentence as Nelson Mandela did – 27 years.’ The state’s psychologist earlier said Walus could not change his political beliefs, but he knew the difference between right and wrong. Walus also denounced violence as a means to achieve political objectives. Knight said it was difficult to expect the Minister to be impartial. ‘How can anyone expect a Minister who is a member of the ANC to be impartial in granting parole to a person who killed his commander-in-chief? If you look back at the succession of Ministers who dealt with this matter, each came up with a different reason not to place him on parole.’ Knight said it was time to close this tragic chapter in the country’s history.

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