Para champion Pistorius up for parole in girlfriend’s murder
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Double amputee Oscar Pistorius, pictured competing in the 2012 Olympics in London, shot dead his girlfriend in 2013.
PHOTO: ST FILE
JOHANNESBURG – South African Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius may be released from prison this week, a decade after he killed his girlfriend in a crime that gripped the world.
A parole board is to decide whether the 36-year-old should be let out early, after a hearing in Pretoria on Friday.
“The board must determine whether the purpose of imprisonment has been served,” said Department of Correctional Services’ spokesman Singabakho Nxumalo.
Pistorius shot dead Reeva Steenkamp, a model, on Valentine’s Day in 2013, when he fired four times through the bathroom door of his Pretoria house.
He pleaded not guilty and denied that he killed Steenkamp in a rage, saying he mistook her for a burglar.
Known worldwide as the “Blade Runner” because of his carbon-fibre prosthetics, he was sentenced to 13 years behind bars.
Offenders in South Africa are automatically eligible for parole consideration after serving half of their sentence. Pistorius has served more than half, having started his term in 2014.
As part of his rehabilitation, he met Steenkamp’s parents June and Barry in 2022
June will attend the hearing to “make representations to the parole board” which will include both parents’ victim impact statements, said Tania Koen, a lawyer representing the Steenkamps.
Barry is unable to travel due to ill health, Koen added.
“They are going to make their submissions, before the law will take its course,” she said.
The board, normally made up of correctional services and community members, will consider whether an inmate has been rehabilitated or still poses a danger to society, said Kelly Phelps, a law professor at the University of Cape Town.
This will take into account the seriousness of the offence as well as Pistorius’ behaviour behind bars, including whether he attended educational and life skills programmes.
Release on parole usually comes with some conditions, such as monitoring from authorities and duty to report to a community correction centre. Day parole, where the inmate returns to prison at night, and community service are also on the cards.
A year before killing Steenkamp, Pistorius became the first double amputee to race at the Olympics at the London 2012 Games. He then was a sporting icon admired worldwide and courted by sponsors. But his achievements came crashing down after the killing.
He was initially sentenced to six years in jail, but the term was later lengthened to 13 after the state appealed that it was unduly lenient. AFP
