Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 16, 1993 TAG: 9310160165
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA LENGTH: Short
Clive Derby-Lewis, 57, a former Conservative Party member of Parliament, was convicted Thursday of conspiring with Janus Waluz, 38, a Polish immigrant, to murder Hani, one of the most powerful and popular black leaders in the country.
Lawyers for the two men said their clients committed the crime only because they were convinced South Africa was headed for a communist takeover. But Judge Frikkie Eloff said that made no difference.
"Others have strongly held political beliefs," the judge said, "but they don't take an unlicensed firearm and assassinate their opponents."
Eloff called the crime "deliberate, cold-blooded and cowardly in the extreme," and said only the severest penalty was justified.
A third defendant, Gaye Derby-Lewis, the politician's 54-year-old wife, was acquitted.
It remains unclear whether the death sentence will ever be carried out. South Africa has had a moratorium on executions for several years, and government officials say it will remain in place until a new, nonracial government takes office next year.
The African National Congress, widely expected to win the vote, has long opposed the death penalty. But ANC officials were reluctant Friday to offer the two convicted men any solace.
ANC President Nelson Mandela called the sentence "appropriate," and said any decision about whether to carry it out would be made by the new government.
by CNB