Former Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius is released from prison 10 years after killing his girlfriend, while his mother says she has forgiven him
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Former Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius will be released from prison after almost a decade behind bars for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, after winning his case at a parole board hearing.
The South African double amputee athlete shot and killed his partner on Valentine’s Day 2013, and was jailed for 13 years for her murder in 2016. Pistorius, now 36, said he thought she was an intruder and that the shooting it was a tragic mistake.
Today, he was granted parole and will be released on January 5, the South African Department of Corrections said.
He will receive anger management therapy and will remain under supervision without being able to leave the Waterkloof area, where he will stay with his family, for five years.
Department spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said: “Probation does not mean the end of the sentence. It’s still part of the sentence. It just means that the inmate will complete their sentence outside of a correctional facility.
He added: “The conditions, what is important about them, is that they are there to help the prisoner adapt and also to work out whether there are still other areas that require attention.”
Other conditions attached to the release determine when Pistorius must be home and when he can work. They will also prevent him from consuming alcohol and drugs, Mr Nxumalo said.
Rob Matthews, a spokesman for Steenkamp’s mother June, spoke to the media following the ruling. He said: “The parole board is of the opinion that he has met the criteria for parole and I believe June will accept that, but I cannot read inside her mind, I can only interpret what she has said.”
“My personal opinion is that part of the path to rehabilitation is recognizing what you did and being responsible for what you did and being man enough to say ‘I did that,’ and all the consequences that come with that, not just the mouth out, because it’s easy to apologize when you’ve been caught.
Today’s hearing was the 37-year-old’s second parole application, after a hearing in March wrongly found him ineligible for early release due to an error about the official start of his prison sentence.
Pistorius was convicted of manslaughter, a charge comparable to manslaughter for the 2013 murder of his girlfriend, before the conviction was overturned.
However, he was convicted of murder following an appeal by the Public Prosecutor’s Office and imprisoned for six years in 2016, before the following year the sentence was extended to 13 years and five months.
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Source: www.lindaikejisblog.com