Chris Hani killer Janusz Waluś appears unrepentant and even justifies his actions - Dr Pankowski

Lester Kiewit is joined by Dr Rafal Pankowski, a political scientist and head of the 'Never Again' Association's East Europe Monitoring Centre.

Listen below:

This coming Sunday (26 January), eTV will screen Confessions of an Assassin: Why I Killed Chris Hani.

In it, award-winning journalist Annika Larsen sits down with convicted killer Janus Waluś in his native Poland.

The broadcaster promises that the programme will offer viewers 'an unprecedented glimpse into the motivations and conspiracies underlying one of South Africa’s most infamous political crimes'.

Walus spent 29 years behind bars for the brutal murder of the SACP leader on Easter Sunday in 1993.

But Larsen's interview with Hani's killer is one of several he has conducted with the media since his release and deportation to Poland in December.

Dr Rafal Pankowski says that Walus appears unrepentant and even justifies his actions.

"He is having a hero's welcome among the worst racists, the far-right nationalist groups in Poland."

- Dr Rafal Pankowski, Political scientist

Pankowski says Walus has given three major interviews over the last few days, in which he appears impenitent.

"What he says shows definitely a lack of remorse, a lack of self-reflection, frequently glorification of the system of apartheid... and a kind of self-glorification of the violence of the murder he committed."

- Dr Rafal Pankowski, Political scientist

In one interview, Hani was asked by the interviewer whether he has remorse for his actions.

Below is a translation of his answer:

"It's simple. I spoke to my victim's daughter and there's regret that I killed her father and regret that I made her an orphan and made her two sisters orphans and her mother a widow. I regret that I killed a man. But don't regret that I killed a terrorist. A terrorist that was the cause and would cause the death of many people in the future. It's complicated. I'm not even sure."

- Janus Walus

Pankowski says Walus' responses show he has failed to understand why he is considered a villain and not a hero.

"He's obviously enjoying his moment of fame and the support he gets from far-right racist groups."

- Dr Rafal Pankowski, Political scientist

In her 2017 memoir, 'Being Chris Hani's Daughter', Lindiwe Hani wrote of her experience of meeting her father's killer in jail.

She described her decision as 'closure', a process she had to go through to move on with her life.

When asked by one interviewer about whether the meeting and subsequent phone calls between the two were cynical on his part, Walus did not refuse the suggestion, saying:

"I don't remember if it was the daughter who applied for a meeting, or if it was me. Because I was told that that was the way I would get out of prison. Would you have done it differently? Probably not. If I didn't meet with her I would have died in prison."

"... he's admitting that some of the gestures he made when he was still in jail in South Africa were cynical gestures more than anything else which certainly doesn't show him in a very positive light. 

- Dr Rafal Pankowski, Political scientist

"It shows the 30 years he spent in prison did little to reform him."

- Dr Rafal Pankowski, Political scientist

Catch Confessions of an Assassin: Why I Killed Chris Hani exclusively on eTV on Sunday (26 January) at 5 pm and eNCA at 8 pm.

ALSO READ: Chris Hani’s killer Janusz Walus to be deported to Poland

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