Free Clive

Thursday, October 7, 2010

SAPA took notice

Clive Derby Lewis seriously ill

JOHANNESBURG (Sapa) - Medical staff caring for Clive Derby-Lewis were still monitoring his gangrenous leg to prevent an amputation, his lawyer said on Monday.
"The right leg was inflamed and still swollen. It is red right up to his hip and it's obvious that he still has some inflammation in the leg," said Marius Coertze of the man serving a 25-year sentence for his part in the murder of SA Communist Party secretary general Chris Hani.
The 74-year-old Derby-Lewis had to undergo two operations after a bump against an iron bed base caused a severe infection in his leg.
While being examined, doctors also found that Derby-Lewis, who has served 17 years, needed treatment for skin cancer and to his prostate.
Coertze said that a second course of antibiotics, "which his doctor said was so strong that it would kill the bugs around the bed too", did not have the result hoped for.
His blood pressure was also high.
According to the department of correctional services, a final decision on whether Derby-Lewis gets parole should be taken by the National Council on Correctional Services at the end of October.
Coertze said the doctor's primary concern was to save his leg, and as soon as his leg was out of danger, they would focus on treatment for the skin cancer and the prostate.
Derby-Lewis had initially been shackled to his hospital bed in a private facility, but the department intervened and had the shackles taken off to help improve his circulation.
Hani was shot dead on April 10, 1993, a year before the first democratic elections in South Africa.
Hani was shot in the head as he climbed out of his car outside his home in Dawn Park, Boksburg, by Polish immigrant Janusz Walus, using a pistol lent to him by Derby-Lewis, a Conservative Party MP at the time.
They were convicted of murder and conspiracy to commit murder, and were sentenced to death.
However, this was commuted to life imprisonment in 1995, when capital punishment was abolished.
Their application for amnesty to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was rejected on grounds that could not prove it was political and had not made a full disclosure.
An email signed "The Free Derby-Lewis committee" said that if Derby-Lewis was not a political prisoner before, he was now because of what they believe was political meddling in whether he gets parole.
The Free Derby-Lewis committee plan to launch a campaign to get him freed starting with a street braai in Potgieter street in Pretoria on Monday, and then on Wednesday they will send a letter to President Jacob Zuma to have him freed.
The Congress of SA Trade Unions, the Democratic Alliance and the SACP Party are among those opposed to his parole.
Walus was also still serving his 25-year term.

http://politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/page71627?oid=202396&sn=Detail&pid=71616

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