Killer of South African antiapartheid leader to be paroled

JOHANNESBURG — A jailed assassin who killed a prominent antiapartheid leader in South Africa in 1993 won a bid for parole Thursday, igniting bitter memories of racial unrest during white minority rule as well as fresh scrutiny of the balance between punishment and leniency for crimes committed during that era.

A Pretoria judge ordered parole within two weeks for Polish immigrant Janusz Walus, whose killing of Chris Hani stirred fears of all-out racial conflict at a time when delicate negotiations for a democratic transition were under way.

In recent months, there have been more calls for prosecutions of figures from the apartheid-era government, reflecting a belief that the drive for racial reconciliation let some perpetrators off the hook and failed to improve the lives of many in the black majority.