Oscar Pistorius has been released on parole after being jailed for the 2014 murder of his girlfriend.
The South African Paralympian will be released from prison for 10 years in January after being convicted of murdering Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day 2013.
Pistorius, 37, was released on parole on Jan. 5, the Department of Corrections said Friday.
Department of Correctional Services spokesman Singabaho Nxumal said Pistorius’ parole was subject to certain conditions, including a ban on leaving the Pretoria area where he will live without permission from authorities.
The disgraced former athlete will also undergo a program to address his anger issues and will be required to perform community service during his five-year probation period, Mr Nxumalo said.
Pistorius, known as the “Blade Runner” for his carbon fiber prosthetic legs, went from public hero and Paralympic champion to convicted murderer.
He was initially sentenced to five years in prison for manslaughter by the high court in 2014, but was released from house arrest in 2015 while one of the many appeals in his case was heard.
The Supreme Court found him guilty of murder in late 2015 after an appeal by prosecutors, and he was sent back to prison in 2016 for six years, less than half the minimum 15-year sentence prosecutors had sought.
In 2017, the Supreme Court doubled his prison term to thirteen years and five months, calling the six-year sentence “astonishingly lenient.”
Ms. Steenkamp’s father, Barry Steenkamp, died in September.
Her mother, June Steenkamp, did not oppose Pistorius’ parole but said she did not believe he would be rehabilitated.
She told the parole board: “I don’t know to what extent this behavior still exists or was evident during his incarceration, but I worry for the safety of every woman if this had not been an issue during his rehabilitation.”
“I hope that parole decisions put women’s safety first and that their power is used wisely.
“I don’t know what rehabilitation programs Oscar attended while in prison, but I sincerely hope his rehabilitation included psychotherapy to deal with his temper and violent behavior towards women.”
Pistorius shot Ms Steencup several times with his licensed 9mm pistol in the bathroom of his villa in the early hours of the morning.
At his murder trial he testified that he accidentally killed Ms Steenkamp because he mistook her for a dangerous burglar who was hiding in his bathroom in the middle of the night when he fired four times at the door with his licensed 9mm pistol.
Prosecutors alleged Ms Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model and reality TV star, fled to the bathroom during an overnight argument and Pistorius killed her in anger.
During the trial, it turned out that there was another side to Pistorius’s life, namely weapons and angry arguments with others. He was also found guilty of a second count of recklessly discharging a handgun in a restaurant.
Pistorius was initially sent to Pretoria Central Prison, a notorious apartheid-era prison. He was transferred to Atteridgeville City Correctional Center in 2016.
Friday’s parole hearing was Pistorius’ second in eight months. At his first hearing in March, he was wrongly found ineligible for parole due to an appeal court error at the start of his sentence.
Source: I News
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