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Killer of South African anti-apartheid leader to be released from prison
Source: Associated Press
Killer of South African anti-apartheid leader to be released from prison
Associated Press in Johannesburg
Thursday 10 March 2016 23.55 GMT
An assassin who killed an anti-apartheid leader in South Africa in 1993 has won parole, igniting bitter memories of racial unrest during white rule as well as fresh scrutiny of the punishment for crimes committed in that era.
A Pretoria judge ordered that Janusz Walus should be given parole within two weeks. His killing of Chris Hani stirred fears of all-out racial conflict at a time when delicate talks about a democratic transition were under way. Hani was head of the South African Communist party and of the military wing of the African National Congress, which became South Africa’s ruling party.
While Nelson Mandela and other leaders at the time managed to dampen the anger affecting the country, and euphoria ran high after the first all-race elections in 1994, the country still grapples with its troubled legacy. Recently there have been calls for prosecutions of figures from the apartheid-era government, reflecting a belief that the drive for reconciliation let some perpetrators off the hook and failed to improve the lives of many in the black majority.
The news that 60-year-old Walus, who has served 23 years of a life sentence, would be freed on parole this month is likely to add to the anger.
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Associated Press in Johannesburg
Thursday 10 March 2016 23.55 GMT
An assassin who killed an anti-apartheid leader in South Africa in 1993 has won parole, igniting bitter memories of racial unrest during white rule as well as fresh scrutiny of the punishment for crimes committed in that era.
A Pretoria judge ordered that Janusz Walus should be given parole within two weeks. His killing of Chris Hani stirred fears of all-out racial conflict at a time when delicate talks about a democratic transition were under way. Hani was head of the South African Communist party and of the military wing of the African National Congress, which became South Africa’s ruling party.
While Nelson Mandela and other leaders at the time managed to dampen the anger affecting the country, and euphoria ran high after the first all-race elections in 1994, the country still grapples with its troubled legacy. Recently there have been calls for prosecutions of figures from the apartheid-era government, reflecting a belief that the drive for reconciliation let some perpetrators off the hook and failed to improve the lives of many in the black majority.
The news that 60-year-old Walus, who has served 23 years of a life sentence, would be freed on parole this month is likely to add to the anger.
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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/10/killer-anti-apartheid-leader-chris-hani-janusz-walus-south-africa-released-prison