File image of Oscar Pistorius leaving the court docket in Pretoria, South Africa. Pistorius has utilized for parole and could be launched from jail 10 years after killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp
| Photo Credit: AP
Former Olympic runner Oscar Pistorius has utilized for parole and is predicted to attend a listening to on Friday that can determine if he can be launched from jail 10 years after killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp by taking pictures her a number of instances via a rest room door in his dwelling.
Pistorius, who was convicted of homicide in Steenkamp’s Valentine’s Day 2013 killing, could go away the Atteridgeville Correctional Centre in Pretoria on Friday if his parole is granted, though the Department of Corrections mentioned the method might take days to finalize if his utility is profitable.
Barry and June Steenkamp, the dad and mom of Reeva, have mentioned they oppose Pistorius’ launch and are allowed to deal with the parole board at his listening to. A submission by a sufferer’s family members is one in every of quite a few elements taken under consideration.
“He is a murderer. He should remain in jail,” Barry Steenkamp mentioned in an interview with Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper printed final month on the tenth anniversary of his daughter’s killing.
The Department of Corrections declined to provide particulars on Pistorius’ listening to, saying it was “an internal matter” like another parole listening to.
According to tips, the board will think about the offense Pistorius was convicted of, his conduct and disciplinary report whereas in jail, whether or not he took half in instructional or different coaching programs, his psychological and bodily state, whether or not he is more likely to “relapse into crime” and the chance he poses to the general public.
Of all of the elements, authorized skilled Neo Mashele mentioned that “typically talking, the habits of the offender is crucial consideration.”
Pistorius’ parole lawyer, Julian Knight, has previously said Pistorius has been a “model prisoner.” Knight didn’t respond to requests for comment this week. Neither did a lawyer for the Steenkamps.
Pistorius, who is now 36, was ultimately convicted of murder after prosecutors appealed against an initial conviction for culpable homicide, which is comparable to manslaughter. He was eventually sentenced to 13 years and five months in prison for murder in 2017, again after a prosecution appeal against a lighter sentence.
Offenders in South Africa convicted of serious crimes must serve at least half their sentence before being considered for parole. Pistorius has done that after taking into account the time he served in jail from late 2014 while the appeals in his case were heard.
A number of options are available to the parole board: Pistorius could be released on full parole or placed on day parole, where he would be allowed to live and work in the community during the day but have to return to prison at night. He could also be placed under correctional supervision, which means he would be released but have to spend some of his time during the week at a correctional center.
Pistorius’ parole could be denied, where the board usually asks the offender to reapply at a later stage.
Fall from grace
A double-amputee runner and multiple Paralympic champion once hailed as an inspirational figure, Pistorius’ murder trial and downfall captivated the world. His crime eventually led to him being sent to the Kgosi Mampuru II maximum security prison, one of South Africa’s most notorious.
He was moved to the Atteridgeville prison in 2016 because that facility is better suited to disabled prisoners. Pistorius had both his lower legs amputated as a baby and walks with prosthetics.
There have been glimpses of his life in prison, with reports claiming he had at one point grown a beard, gained weight and taken up smoking and was unrecognizable from the elite athlete who competed against able-bodied runners on his carbon-fiber blades at the 2012 London Olympics.
He has spent much of his time working in an area of the prison grounds where vegetables are grown, sometimes driving a tractor. His father, Henke Pistorius, said in a 2018 interview that he was running Bible classes for other inmates.
There have also been flashes of trouble. Pistorius sustained an injury in an altercation with another inmate over a public telephone in 2017. A year earlier, Pistorius received treatment for injuries to his wrists, which his family denied were a result of him harming himself.
Pistorius has been seeking parole since 2021 but a hearing that year was canceled partly because he hadn’t yet met with Barry and June Steenkamp in a process known as a victim-offender dialogue. It is required in South Africa — if victims or their family want the meeting — before an offender can be considered for parole.
Pistorius claims he shot 29-year-old Reeva Steenkamp by mistake with his licensed 9 mm pistol because he thought she was a dangerous intruder. He met face-to-face with her father last year in a meeting which convinced Barry Steenkamp that Pistorius should not be released, he said in the Daily Mail interview.
“I told Oscar directly that he had shot my daughter deliberately and he denied it,” Steenkamp said. “He stuck to his story that he thought it was an intruder. After all these years we are still waiting for him to admit he did it in anger. That is all we wanted.”
“If he told me the truth,” mentioned Steenkamp, “I would have let the law take its course over his parole.”
