Former South African Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius will be released from prison in early January after being granted parole on Friday, 10 years after the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in a case that roiled the world.
“The Department of Correctional Services confirms the conditional release of Mr. Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius, effective January 5, 2024,” the prison administration announced in a press release.
The former athlete will be free but “subject to surveillance” and required to stay within a certain radius of a suburb of the capital Pretoria, the administration added.
During his probation, which “will last until December 5, 2029,” Pistorius must complete a reintegration program that includes “therapy against his anger” and “against violence against women,” the press spokesman told the press. Spokesman for the victim’s family, Rob Matthews. He must also take part in work of general interest.
An ad hoc commission made up of prison service members and ordinary civilians met this morning at the prison near Pretoria where 37-year-old Pistorius is still being held.
She considered that the “first offender” benefited from “positive support” and that his placement on conditional discharge was in accordance with the law.
Pistorius “did not rehabilitate himself” in prison, judged June Steenkamp, the victim’s mother. “I don’t believe Oscar’s version,” she added in a written statement submitted to the commission.
The family, which did not formally oppose the request for early release, said they were “satisfied” with the conditions imposed on Pistorius.
“Convoluted procedure”
On the night of February 13-14, 2013, Oscar Pistorius shot his partner, 29-year-old model Reeva Steenkamp, four times through the bathroom door of her bedroom in his ultra-secure Pretoria home.
Rich, famous, the six-time Paralympics champion was crowned with fame back then. A year earlier, he had become a sports legend when he competed alongside able-bodied athletes in the 400-meter run at the London Olympics, a first for a double amputee.
“Blade Runner,” as he is called in reference to his carbon prosthetics, claims to have believed in the presence of an intruder. After his first trial in 2014, he was sentenced to five years in prison for manslaughter.
The prosecution believes the judiciary is too lenient and is calling for it to be reclassified 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 parole application, Oscar Pistorius met Reeva Steenkamp’s parents last year. A mandatory step that authorities say aims to ensure detainees “recognize the harm caused.”
A first application was rejected in March. To everyone’s surprise, the correctional authorities discovered that Pistorius, who had been sentenced on appeal to 13 years and 5 months in prison, had not served the required minimum period of imprisonment.
In South Africa, prisoners can benefit from early release after half of their sentence has been served. After Pistorius was convicted at first instance and then several times on appeal, a count from the date of his last conviction was used to determine that he had not served the minimum sentence.
But the Constitutional Court disagreed with that calculation and ruled last month that counting should begin from the day of his first detention.
The entire process was “very emotionally demanding,” family lawyer Tania Koen told AFP.