Former South African Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius was released on parole this Friday, ten years after the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.
Former South African Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius, 37, was granted conditional release this Friday. Conditional which will be effective from January 5, ten years after the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
An ad hoc commission, made up of members of the prison services and ordinary civilians, has been meeting since the beginning of the morning in the prison near Pretoria where Pistorius, 37, is serving his sentence. After examining his case and in particular his behavior in detention, this commission determined that the man convicted of murder was “suitable for social reintegration”.
Pistorius “has not rehabilitated himself” at this stage, said June Steenkamp, the mother of victim Reeva Steenkamp, in a statement read outside the prison by a family spokesperson this morning. Even if she had not formally opposed Pistorius’ request for early release.
“Rehabilitation requires someone to commit honestly, with the whole truth about their crime,” she underlined in her text submitted to the commission.
Pistorius’ release will not be immediate, however. The procedure for establishing the conditions for early release can take up to a month.
“We do not know if the detainee, in the event of a decision in his favor, will return home today or if he will have to follow other programs” with a view to his reintegration, the spokesperson for the services said on site. prisons, Singabakho Nxumalo.
In March, a first request for conditional release was rejected.
The prison services had estimated to everyone’s surprise that Pistorius, sentenced to 13 years and 5 months in prison on appeal, had not served the minimum period of detention required.
In South Africa, prisoners can benefit from early release after half their sentence has been completed. Pistorius having been convicted at first instance, then several times on appeal, it was calculated that, according to a count starting from the date of his last conviction, he had not served the minimum time.
But the Constitutional Court contradicted this calculation, ruling last month that the counting should begin on the date of his first placement in detention.
“Treasing” procedure
On the night of February 13-14, 2013, Oscar Pistorius shot dead his partner, model Reeva Steenkamp, 29, shooting four times through the bathroom door of her bedroom in his ultra-secure Pretoria home.
Rich, famous, the six-time Paralympic champion was crowned with glory at the time. He had become a sporting legend a year earlier by lining up with the able-bodied in the 400 meters at the London Olympic Games, a first for a double leg amputee.
“Blade Runner”, as he is nicknamed in reference to his carbon prostheses, claims to have believed in the presence of an intruder. He was sentenced to five years in prison for manslaughter following his first trial in 2014.
The prosecution considers justice too lenient and calls for a reclassification as murder. In 2017, the Supreme Court of Appeal finally sentenced Pistorius to more than 13 years in prison. Abandoned by his sponsors, ruined, the fallen idol sells his house to pay his lawyers.
As part of his request for parole, Oscar Pistorius met Reeva Steenkamp’s parents last year. A mandatory step aimed, according to the authorities, at ensuring that detainees “recognize the harm caused”.
“I don’t believe his story,” said June Steenkamp, then present. Reeva Steenkamp’s father died in September.
The whole procedure was “very emotionally trying”, the family’s lawyer, Tania Koen, told AFP.
Pistorius’ lawyer, Conrad Dormehl, is counting on an “immediate release”, given the delay already accumulated after the imbroglio on his client’s eligibility for conditional release.