New Age2.png Parole for Janusz Walus cannot be justified Mfanozelwe Shozi, The New Age, Johannesburg, 9 May, 2016 I am perplexed by the insistence of the judiciary on giving Janusz Walus parole. In fact parole is not a right it is privilege. It depends on the conduct of the offender among a raft of requirements, including being remorseful for your actions In my assessment I do not think the offender in question is remorseful and shows arrogance through his lawyer's utterances and behaviour. Another consideration for Correctional Services to grant parole is the impact of the crime. As advocate Malindi said, the killing was that of a prominent leader of the SACP and the ANC. It was a despicable act committed on the eve of our democratic dispensation and a gross offence to the people of South Africa which makes the granting of parole unwarranted. I wonder if it was FW de Klerk who was assassinated instead by a black person, whether the attitude of the judge would be the same as in the case of Walus. The court should appreciate that the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services is enforcing its ruling. The judge did not give Walus a 25-year sentence, but life imprisonment, so if he died while serving his sentence that would be within the law and the department would have performed according to the law. Advocate Roelof du Plessis for Walus said his client was suffering "irreparable harm" through his continued incarceration. He argued that the appeal process could take a year off Walus's life. If the appeal takes more than a year, it does not matter to me because Walus is serving a life sentence and will be paying the price for his horrendous crime. There has been an outcry by South Africans over the early release of criminals, in this instance the department is enforcing and implementing its legislation. If the judge's comments on April 21 are accurately quoted as having said "you, as an officer of this court, no doubt appreciate the importance of the respect for the rule of law as a cornerstone in any civil society and in a democratic society. Would you kindly relate or advise your clients on that principle?," before the judge walked out of the packed courtroom, this is clearly a display of arrogance on the part of the judge. We are urged to respect the judiciary, but it is important for judges as well to respect the other arms of government and trust that administrative decisions that they had taken are above board. I am sure the minister and the national council of correctional services and respective parole boards considered the impact that the offender's release will have on society. The offender is incarcerated under the watch of the Department of Correctional Services, which has every right to utilise the information at its disposal to decide whether the offender should be released or not. My worry is that I do not see the same public outrage that occurred when Shabir Shaik and Jackie Selebi were being considered for parole. South Africans must accept the fact that justice is for everyone and we are all equal before the law. The offender is also arrogant; he wants to be released immediately on parole, pending the outcome of a petition lodged by Justice Minister Michael Masutha to the Supreme Court of Appeal. He must serve the full term of his sentence. We must not forget that when De Klerk called a referendum to usher in the new democratic dispensation, a sizable number of whites did agree with the move and wanted apartheid to remain in place. Those who did not agree are still around and hold higher positions and will continue to stifle political and democratic processes. The claim is that Walus has been incarcerated for 23 years already as opposed to other criminals. Walus is no exception, there are many offenders who are serving life sentences and who have served more than 25 years but remain behind bars because with parole each case is treated on its merit. The argument by the advocate is farfetched and indicates lack of knowledge in relation to parole. Correctional centres are for everyone who has committed a crime. It does not matter whether you are pink or red. If you have committed a crime you must serve your sentence and be accountable to South African society. Advocate Du Plessis further argued that the only reason Minister Masutha is opting to appeal the court ruling, was because of bias and political pressure. He further submitted that political pressure had made him to oppose everything in this case. I disagree with this assertion because the minister has to apply his mind when releasing an offender and this is based on parole requirements and procedures. Another question needs to be asked who is behind the funding of the campaign to release Walus. This man was given an opportunity during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to tell the truth but did not do so. I can only conclude that there is a hidden hand that is supporting the release of the man who nearly pushed South Africa into civil war. The implication for this judgement is that all offenders will know that when they are sentenced to life imprisonment they will only be expected to serve 23 years. I hope the Supreme Court of Appeals will look into this matter. . Mfanozelwe Shozi is the chairperson of the Commission for Gender Equality and writes in his personal capacity From: http://tnaepaper.co.za/DRIVE/main%20edition/09052016/epaperpdf/19.pdf -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "YCLSA Discussion Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
