Johannesburg - After two decades behind bars, former apartheid-era police colonel Eugene de Kock will know on Thursday whether he will be granted parole.
Justice Minister Michael Masutha was expected to announce his decision on De Kock's parole application in Pretoria.
De Kock, who was nicknamed “Prime Evil”, approached the Pretoria High Court for a decision in May.
The court gave Masutha 30 days to make a decision. The 30 days did not include weekends and holidays.
The national council for correctional services made a recommendation about De Kock's parole in November last year. The recommendation was sent to then minister S'bu Ndebele. When he failed to act, De Kock approached the high court to force him to do so.
De Kock was in charge of a police “death squad” at Vlakplaas, outside Pretoria.
He was arrested in 1994 and convicted in the Pretoria High Court in 1996.
He was sentenced to two terms of life imprisonment for two murders and a further 212 years on charges including conspiracy to commit murder, culpable homicide, kidnapping, assault and fraud.
Many of his former colleagues who committed murder under his command testified in return for indemnity from prosecution. - Sapa