Former South African Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius was released on parole this Friday, almost 11 years after he was found guilty of murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, and is now at home.
“He has been integrated into the prison system and is now at home,” said prison authorities, who decided not to give advance details of Pistorius’ release from Attergeville prison on the outskirts of Pretoria for security reasons.
In a statement sent to AFP, Reeva Steenkamp’s mother said her daughter’s loved ones “remain sentenced to life in prison” and believe there is “no justice that will bring” her daughter back.
Steenkamp’s family did not formally oppose Pistorius’ parole, but June Steenkamp said she was convinced the former athlete had “not been rehabilitated during his time in prison.”
The former Paralympic athlete was serving a prison sentence of 13 years and five months in Pretoria Prison for the death of his girlfriend in 2013.
After Pistorius was sentenced to six years in prison in 2016, the sentence was increased to 13 years and five months in prison in 2017 by the Supreme Court of Appeal, which upheld prosecutors who, on appeal, found the original sentence “too lenient” .
Last March, the 37-year-old former athlete had a similar request rejected because authorities believed he had not yet served half of the sentence required by country law.
However, the Constitutional Court later clarified that the sentence should be counted from the moment of the first arrest, and not from the date of its increase.
On the night of February 13-14, 2013, Pistorius shot his 29-year-old girlfriend through the bathroom door, saying he thought he was a thief, and killed her with four shots.
Oscar Pistorius, nicknamed “Blade Runner” due to his carbon prosthetic blade, was Paralympic champion in the 200 meters in Athens in 2004 and in the 100, 200 and 400 meters in Beijing in 2008. He was also a silver medalist in the 200m in London 2012 and a bronze medalist in the 100m in Athens 2004.
The South African Paralympic athlete also made history by becoming the first amputee to compete equally against non-disabled athletes in the 400m at the London 2012 Olympic Games.