/ 18 November 2008

Derby-Lewis hearing to be put on court roll

The date for a parole application by Clive Derby-Lewis, who is serving a life sentence for murder of SACP leader Chris Hani, is still to be set, his attorney said on Tuesday.

Derby-Lewis’ attorney Marius Coertze said the matter was still to be put back on the ”urgent” court roll of the Pretoria High Court.

”We don’t have a fixed date, we’re looking at month end to have the matter heard,” said Coertze.

In October the court postponed the matter to November to allow other parties — the Hani family and the National Parole Board — to be joined as co-respondents in the matter.

So far, he had not received any word from any of the parties, he said.

Coertze added that his client had put in an application to the court to have the Correctional Services Department make ”certain documents” relating to his parole application be made available to him.

One of the documents was one by the local parole board recommending the 72-year-old for parole.

”What was strange in the court papers was that the department said they were not aware of this recommendation. However we have it in black and white [that the recommendation had been made],” said the attorney.

The documents were delivered to Coertze last Friday.

On Friday, Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour dashed Derby-Lewis’s hopes of being paroled.

”I will tell you, you will not go out [of prison] Clive Derby-Lewis … you can go to hell. You’re not going to go out until you do your time, its as simple as that,” said Balfour, who was speaking at the launch of a ”corrections week” in Pretoria.

‘Illegal outburst’
In a statement released on Tuesday from the Pretoria Central Prison, Derby-Lewis, who is serving a life sentence for the assassination of the SACP leader, said the minister must have been ”drunk” when making that statement.

”There is no other explanation for the outrageous and illegal outburst by the minister.

”For Balfour’s information, I have served my time and the parole board would not have recommended my parole if I had not served my time,” said Derby-Lewis.

Also commenting on the matter Coertze said that he was ”quite shocked and disappointed” by the minister’s utterances.

”It is clear that he is biased, we cannot expect to be treated fairly,” he said Coertze.

Derby-Lewis has served 15-years of his sentence and was convicted with Janusz Walus of Hani’s assassination on April 10 1993.

In 1995 their death sentences were changed to life imprisonment. – Sapa