Published on :
South African Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius, who killed his girlfriend a decade ago, will find out within a month whether he can be granted parole, his lawyer said on Thursday. “We have been informed by the parole board that the hearing will take place on March 31,” said Me Julian Knight.
Oscar Pistorius, 36 years old today, killed Reeva Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine’s Day 2013 by shooting four times through the bathroom door of his ultra-secure Pretoria home. The former athlete amputated below both knees has always denied killing his girlfriend in a fit of rage, claiming to have taken her for a burglar. The sprinter, known worldwide as the “Blade Runner” because of his carbon fiber prostheses, was sentenced to thirteen years in prison.
In South Africa, prisoners are automatically eligible for parole after serving half their sentence. The law is the same for everyone, “Oscar Pistorius is no exception”, notes to AFP the lawyer for the parents of his victim, Tania Koen. In accordance with the procedure requiring that the convict speak with the victim or his family, Oscar Pistorius had met in early July with the parents of Reeva Steenkamp.
The decision is usually known the same day of the hearing or a day later, and “if the decision is negative, the detainee has the right to go to court for a review”, Knight said. A year before killing Steenkamp, Pistorius had become a world star by lining up with the able-bodied athletes in the 400 meters at the London Olympics. He was initially sentenced to six years in prison, but the sentence was later increased to thirteen years after the state appealedconsidering that she was too lenient.
(With AFP)