South African Paralympian, Oscar Psitorius will finally breathe a fresh air outside the walls of prison after serving just 11 months of ...
South African Paralympian, Oscar Psitorius will finally breathe a fresh air outside the walls of prison after serving just 11 months of his sentence for killing Reeva Steenkamp.
He would proceed on house arrest from Tuesday October 20 to continues the remainder of his five year jail term.
Pistorius was found guilty of culpable homicide – a charge equivalent to manslaughter – after saying he shot her through a locked bathroom door because he mistook her for an intruder.
Prosecutors insist that he deliberately killed her after an argument. He faces a further test on November 3 when prosecutors appeal to South Africa’s Supreme Court for a murder conviction and a tougher sentence.
Pistorius was initially due to be freed in August, but intervention by the minister of justice led to a series of delays before today’s parole board decision.
However, he still faces an appeal in the Supreme Court next month, which if successful, will upgrade his charge to murder and see him re-jailed for a minimum of 15 years.
A spokesperson for the Department of Correctional Services said the parole board ‘approved the placement of offender Oscar Pistorius under correctional supervision as from 20 October 2015′.
‘The parole board considered all submissions, including the offender’s profile report, the directives of the Parole Review Board and the submission of the victim’s family.’
Under South African law, an offender sentenced to five years or less in jail can be released after serving one-sixth – in Pistorius’ case 10 months.
The spokeswoman for Barry and June Steenkamp confirmed they had received a call from the parole board notifying them of their decision to released Pistorius.
‘We were not surprised to hear their decision, we had been expecting that,’ she said.
The Steenkamps had expressed their objection to the idea that their daughter’s killer should be freed only ten months after he was jailed, prior to a the announcement in June that Pistorius was due to be moved to ‘correctional supervision’ in August.
Pistorius, nicknamed the Blade Runner, rose to fame as a sprinter with prosthetic legs. Here he is pictured winning gold in the men’s 400m final at the 2012 London Paralympics
In a trial that made headlines around the world, Pistorius was jailed last year for killing Steenkamp, a model and law graduate.
