Latest news with #JanuszWalus
IOL News
14-05-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
Minister Groenewald reveals limitations on parole revocation for assassin Janusz Walus
Minister Pieter Groenewald says assassin Janusz Walus benefited from a Constitutional Court ruling known as the Van Vuuren judgment, which changed how prisoners sentenced for life before 1994 could be considered for parole. Image: Henk Kruger / Independent Newspapers Correctional Services Minister Pieter Groenewald said his hands are tied in revoking the parole of Janusz Walus, who killed former SACP general secretary and Umkhonto weSizwe chief of staff Chris Hani. This emerged when Groenewald made a presentation on the process leading to the revocation of parole for parolees to the Correctional Services on Tuesday. EFF MP Carl Niehaus said the release of Walus meant that he was not placed under permanent control of the Correctional Services system. Niehaus noted that he was allowed to be deported to his home country in Poland within two years after his release. 'If he breaks the parole condition as any other lifer would have done and is returned to prison, that would not happen.' Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ Niehaus also said Walus had, in an interview after his release, stated that if he got a chance to do what he did, he would do it again, in what he described as his not being rehabilitated. 'Would the minister consider, under the circumstances, to approach the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development and also the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation and request to make a formal request to the government of Poland for extradition of Walus back to South Africa on the basis he had broken South African law, and if he was still in South Africa after that interview would he be taken back to prison?' asked Niehaus. Patriotic Alliance MP Marlon Daniels said his party was in full support of checking the prospects of extraditing Walus to South Africa because he had shown no remorse. 'He never deserved to be let out on parole,' Daniels said. In response, Groenewald said Walus benefited from a Constitutional Court ruling known as the Van Vuuren judgment, which changed how prisoners sentenced for life before 1994 could be considered for parole. The judgment had ruled that prisoners imprisoned for a life sentence could serve a minimum of 10 or 15 years in exceptional cases before being considered for parole, as opposed to the initial 20 years. 'As a minister, I can only comply with court findings and the law. In the Walus case, that was before my time. It was a Constitutional Court decision. I am not to argue with the Constitutional Court decision.' He said the court had determined that Walus, after three years of serving the minimum period, it meant he was eligible for parole, and it was the responsibility of the department to comply. 'It is out of our hands, and that is why he was deported to Poland,' Groenewald said.
The Citizen
14-05-2025
- The Citizen
Why Chris Hani's killer went free but Alison Botha's rapists went back to jail
Minister Pieter Groenewald explained the legalities of Janusz Walus' release and the reason for revoking the bail of two rapists. The Department of Correctional Services has explained the difference between two high-profile parole cases. Janusz Walus, the executor of Chris Hani, was deported back to his homeland late last year after his parole term had expired. Months later, two men convicted of leaving their rape victim for dead outside Port Elizabeth were rearrested while serving parole. Janusz Walus back to Poland Addressing the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services, Minister Pieter Groenewald explained how the cases reached seemingly contradictory outcomes. After the Pole was unrepentant in a post-homecoming interview, defenders of Hani's legacy soon called for Walusz to be returned to South Africa to face further justice. The minister explained that Walus' case was handled under the Van Vuren Constitutional Court judgment, which covered death sentences handed down before March 1994. Paul Van Vuren was in November 1992 sentenced to death after being convicted of murder, robbery, theft and the possession of an unlicensed firearm. In September 2000, his death sentence was commuted to a life sentence and in 2007, he approached the Constitutional Court, which ruled on his application to approach the High Court to argue his case for parole. 'Mr Van Vuren's case appears to be premised on the prejudice he may suffer if the statutory provision in question is retrospective in effect,' the 2007 judgment read. 'His case may implicate any changes in parole policy from 1994 and the proper interpretation of related provisions,' it continued. The case of Alison Botha The Van Vuren judgment allowed those with commuted death sentences to be eligible for a three-year parole period after serving their full life sentence, with Groenewald clarifying that 360 inmates had since benefited from this ruling. The second matter relates to Frans du Toit and Theuns Kruger, who in 1997, were convicted of raping Allison Botha and dumping her body outside Port Elizabeth with multiple stab wounds and a slit throat. The rapists were released on parole in 2024 after the standard application, recommendation and risk analysis process had been conducted. However, after their releases, Botha's lawyers threatened the department with litigation, claiming that no victim consultation on their parole was conducted. Legal advice and the brutality of Du Toit's and Kruger's crime, as described during their prosecution, forced Groenewald to rescind their parole. 'The Minister's primary consideration is the imperative of protecting and securing the community, particularly in instances where acts of violence against women and children have been committed,' the department stated upon their reimprisonment. NOW READ: Hani's hitman: 'Nationalists' give Janusz Waluś a hero's welcome in Poland
Eyewitness News
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Eyewitness News
MPs question release of Janusz Walus on parole, want him extradited & reincarcerated
CAPE TOWN - Members of Parliament (MPs) have questioned the release of Janusz Walus on parole. The correctional services committee said that Walus showed no remorse after his release and should ideally be extradited and reincarcerated for violating parole conditions and South African laws. Walus, who was sentenced to life for murdering Chris Hani, was released on parole before being deported to Poland in December last year, a decision that outraged many, including Hani's wife. Correctional Services Minister Pieter Groenewald briefed the committee on the process of how people who were sentenced to life in prison could have their parole revoked, and how lifers were also not entitled to parole. READ: SACP expresses disappointment over handling of Janusz Walus's deportation This led to questions from members on how his statement contradicted certain decisions, like the release of Walus, who was serving life for Chris Hani's murder in 1993. Committee member, Marlon Daniels, said that Walus showed no remorse in interviews after his release, which was a violation, calling for his extradition. "We are in full support in checking out the prospects of extraditing Janusz Walus back to South Africa. In particular, the fact that there's no remorse." Committee member, Carl Niehaus, asked about the possibility of extraditing Walus for his lack of remorse. "On the basis of the fact that Walus had broken South African law." Groenewald said that Walus was released on parole because of a Constitutional Court decision, or the Van Vuuren case, which stated that those sentenced to life before 2004 could be granted parole after serving 20 years.
