After delays and state intervention, a parole board will decide if the Paralympian Oscar Pistorius should be released early from prison
A South African parole board is due to meet Monday to determine whether Paralympian star Oscar Pistorius should be placed under correctional supervision for killing his girlfriend.
The 28-year-old double-amputee sprinter was sentenced last year to five years in prison for killing model and law graduate Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day 2013, after a trial that attracted global headlines.
He was found guilty of culpable homicide – a charge equivalent to manslaughter – after saying during the trial that he shot his girlfriend through a locked bathroom door because he mistook her for an intruder.
Pistorius was due to leave prison in August to serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest.
But he was kept behind bars after Justice Minister Michael Masutha made a last minute intervention blocking his release, saying the parole board had made a mistake when they approved Pistorius for parole before he had served a sixth of his five-year sentence, as required by law.
The board’s first meeting two weeks ago in the eastern port city of Durban ended without the panel of legal experts headed by a judge making a decision on Pistorius’ case, and the matter was postponed.
“The hearing will go ahead on Monday,” correctional services spokesman Manelisi Wolela confirmed to AFP.
Pistorius family spokeswoman Anneliese Burgess also confirmed the meeting, which will change location to the economic powerhouse province of Gauteng, where Steenkamp was killed.
Reeva Steenkamp’s parents, who are convinced Pistorius murdered their daughter in a rage, have strongly opposed the athlete’s possible release, telling an Australian television channel in August he had ruined their lives.
“How can 10 months be enough? He killed her. He admits he killed her. She’s dead. Why didn’t he just let her walk away? Why?” Reeva’s mother June Steenkamp said in the interview.
Even if he is freed from prison and placed under house arrest, Pistorius could find himself back behind bars for a minimum of 15 years if an appeal by prosecutors next month is successful.
They are pursuing a murder conviction and a longer sentence, arguing that Pistorius deliberately killed Steenkamp after an argument
If the parole review board decides that Pistorius should be released from prison, the athlete might be able to leave jail immediately, his lawyer Brian Webber said.
Whatever the outcome of the parole decision, the Supreme Court of Appeal will hear the prosecution’s appeal on November 3.
A champion Paralympian and once a poster boy for sport, Pistorius, known as the “Blade Runner” for the prosthetic legs he wears on the track, shot to fame when he raced against able-bodied competitors in the 2012 London Olympics. – AFP
