The South African neo-nazi leader, Eugene Terre'Blanche, jailed six months ago for assaulting a black man, was released on parole by the Pretoria High Court. Emerging from the court much thinner than when he ostentatiously arrived at his prison on horseback in March, Terre'Blanche told reporters he was "not bitter, but better".
The fiery leader of the white supremacist Afrikaner Resistance Movement (AWB) became eligible for parole on August 14th after serving half the one-year prison sentence he received for assaulting a petrol attendant in 1996 at the town of Ventersdorp, in North-West province.
"I'm glad that justice has prevailed and that a decision was not made above the heads of our judges," he said. "This should be a lesson to everyone who tries to tamper with the administration of justice and try to incarcerate people unlawfully."
He added: "I'm coming out of jail a stronger, wiser and very thankful man. The first thing I'm going to do now is to go on my knees and thank God that I'm still a man that he's going to use."
Prison officials had refused to sign his parole form, saying he had in fact a six year sentence to serve for attempted murder.
But a Pretoria High Court judge last week granted Terre'Blanche bail of 5,000 rand (about £810) pending the outcome of his appeal against the attempted murder conviction, and Terre'Blanche argued that this made him eligible for release on parole. Terre'Blanche was in 1997 sentenced to one year for the assault and to six years for the attempted murder of a former employee, Paul Motshabi. Both sentences were to run concurrently.
His appeal is not expected until next year.