SOUTH AFRICA’S liberation alliance condemned a judge’s decision yesterday to free the assassin of communist leader Chris Hani.

High Court Judge Nicoline Janse Van Nieuwenhuizen freed Polish immigrant Janusz Walus following an appeal against the Justice Ministry’s decision to deny him parole.

The far-right Polish immigrant shot South African Communist Party (SACP) general secretary Mr Hani dead outside his home near Johannesburg on April 10 1993.

Anti-apartheid struggle hero Mr Hani was also chief of staff of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC).

The murder weapon was given to Mr Walus by MP Clive Derby-Lewis, whose Conservative Party was a hardline split from the apartheid-era ruling National Party.

Both men were sentenced to life in prison for the crime. They were denied amnesty by South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission after they refused to reveal who ultimately gave the order for Mr Hani’s assassination.

But Mr Derby-Lewis was freed last year after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.The tripartite alliance of the ANC, SACP Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) condemned the leniency shown to the “unrepentant” killers.

ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa said the court’s decision to free Mr Walus exactly a month before the 23rd anniversary of Mr Hani’s death was “extremely insensitive.”

He stressed: “It should never be forgotten that the premeditated actions of Walus almost precipitated a civil war in South Africa, which was stopped only by the strength of the leadership of the ANC.”

SACP spokesman Alex Mashilo said the judge’s “biased comments” suggested she “had predetermined views about the matter in favour of the unrepentant murderer.

“The courts should not blur the lines of the principle of separation of powers and encroach into the executive sphere,” he warned.

Cosatu spokesman Sizwe Pamla said the judge “appeared to have adopted the usual condescending approach … that the victims of the wicked apartheid system need to get over it and move on.

“The wounds of apartheid will never heal unless the true story of the Hani murder is divulged.”

The ANC has said that if Mr Walus must be released, he should be exiled for life.