Cape Town — Janusz Walus has been released from prison to serve a two-year parole period, Mail and Guardian reports.This comes after Walus – a Polish immigrant imprisoned for the 1993 murder of South African Communist Party leader Chris Hani – was stabbed in prison ahead of his initial release from confinement. His sentence to death was converted to life imprisonment after capital punishment was ruled to be unconstitutional.
The announcement of his release caused outrage, resulting from the Constitutional Court ruling that Justice Minister Ronald Lamola’s refusal to to grant him parole in 2020 was “irrational and unconstitutional”.
In a statement, the department of justice and correctional services said of Walus’s release: “There is no question that offender Walus is a polarising figure in our budding constitutional democracy, and that his release has understandably re-opened wounds among some in society, especially the family of the late struggle icon Chris Hani … He will serve two years under community corrections in line with the parole regime upon which he is released.”