Why the assassin must not be granted parole
There are many reasons. Let us highlight just a few.
Janusz Walus is the ASSASSIN who murdered in cold blood Chris Hani the husband, father, General Secretary of the SACP, former Chief of Staff of uMkhonto weSizwe, ANC national executive committee member and, above all, one of us – a human being. The assassin says he does not regret assassinating Chris Hani the Communist but the husband and father. This is nothing but an intransigent refusal to show remorse.
Hani was an indivisible person – Hani the husband and father was the same person as Hani the Communist. Walus’s assassination of Hani the Communist was in all material respects the assassination of Hani the husband and father. Hani the Communist’s family was left without Hani the husband and father since his assassination.
Further, in South Africa our Constitution guarantees everyone the freedoms of association and expression as well as political rights. No person has the right to assassinate another, including for the exercise of their constitutional rights and freedoms.
Walus the assassin was and still is ideologically-driven. He has not abandoned the ideological hatred that drove him to assassinate Hani. This is the UNREHABILITATABLE condition that the assassin still harbours as confirmed in his own prison report. He definitely has to rot in jail for being UNREHABILITATABLE. He remains a danger to a democratic society.
Further, the SACP wants full disclosure of the truth, of all the circumstances surrounding the assassination of Hani. A rehabilitated offender is a person who both truly renounced their adherence to the motive for the offence they have committed and made the full disclosure of the truth exposing all the circumstances surrounding the offence. On the contrary, Walus remains nothing but an unrepentant assassin.
On another score, the irregular, irrational and unconstitutional manner in which the Home Affairs Director-General withdrew the South African citizenship of Walus the assassin is not a mere cause for concern. Neither is it convincingly an ignorant violation of the rule of law. It is a serious ground for a new investigation.
The deportation order that was thereby issued effectively offered the assassin a possible escape. The National Prosecution Authority reminded us that South Africa does not have a prisoner-exchange treaty with any state or country in the world. The decision of the Home Affairs Director-General amounted to not just the possible but also administratively aided and furthermore permanent escape of the assassin from South Africa to Poland. As if that were not enough, the Home Affairs Director-General did not invite representations from the affected parties, the Hani family and the SACP.
The judgement delivered by the North Gauteng High Court in the City of Tshwane on Thursday, 6 September 2018 remitted the assassin’s parole application to the Parole Board and the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services. The reconsideration is expected to be concluded within 120 working days as per the court order. The SACP and the Hani family will make their representations after Walus the assassin has responded to the “negative” findings of the Parole Board considered among others by the Minister when he decided not to grant him parole.
The SACP is opposed to parole for the assassin.
Alex Mohubetswane Mashilo is the spokesperson of the SACP and writes in his capacity as a full-time professional revolutionary.
This article first appeared in the SACP online journal, Umsebenzi Online.
