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Oscar Pistorius is to be freed from jail on parole, 10 years after murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp

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A South African court has increased Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius's jail sentence for killing his girlfriend to 13 years and five months.
Prosecutors had argued that the six-year term for murdering Reeva Steenkamp was "shockingly light".

Ms Steenkamp's parents were "emotional" as they watched the ruling at home on TV, a spokeswoman said.

"They feel there has been justice for Reeva. She can now rest in peace," Tania Koen told Associated Press.

"But at the same time, people think this is the end of the road for them... the fact is they still live with Reeva's loss every day," Ms Koen said.

Oscar Pistorius claimed he shot dead Ms Steenkamp on Valentine's Day in 2013 after mistaking her for a burglar.

The Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein has now given Pistorius the minimum 15 years prescribed for murder in South Africa, less time already served.

The lower court had justified the six-year sentence by citing mitigating circumstances such as rehabilitation and remorse. It said they outweighed aggravating factors such as his failure to fire a warning shot.

Pistorius's brother Carl said on social media that he was "shattered. Heartbroken. Gutted" at the decision.

"We have all suffered incomprehensible loss. The death of Reeva was and still is a great loss for our family too," he wrote.

Tackling inconsistency

There is huge relief here from the National Prosecuting Authority and from Ms Steenkamp's family and friends. Prosecutors are relieved because the earlier sentence of six years for murder could have set a precedent in future trials. The Pistorius family are devastated, as is the athlete himself.

The six-year sentence gave an impression of inconsistency. There have been fraud and corruption trials that led to 15-year sentences. It seemed lenient considering that the Paralympian fired four bullets into a bathroom door behind which there was an unarmed and frightened Ms Steenkamp.

Oscar Pistorius, 31, was not in court to hear the decision.

He was initially given a five-year term for manslaughter in 2014, but was found guilty of murder on appeal in 2015.

Pistorius shot Ms Steenkamp four times through a locked toilet door at his home in the capital Pretoria.

Previously, the six-time Paralympic gold medallist had made history by becoming the first amputee sprinter to compete at the Olympics, in 2012 in London, running on prosthetic "blades".

He had his legs amputated below the knee as a baby.

Rise and fall of Oscar Pistorius

August 2012: Competes in London Olympics and Paralympics, where he won a gold medal
February 2013: Shoots dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp
March 2014: Trial begins
September 2014: Judge finds Pistorius guilty of culpable homicide
October 2014: Begins five-year sentence
October 2015: Transferred to house arrest
December 2015: Appeal court changes verdict to murder
July 2016: Sentenced to six years in jail for murder
November 2017: Sentence more than doubled to 15 years, less time served

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-42107701
 
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I always thought that the initial jail term was very lenient.
 
http://time.com/5061316/oscar-pistorius-jail-fight-telephone/

(JOHANNESBURG) — Olympian Oscar Pistorius, in jail for murdering his girlfriend, was bruised in an altercation with another inmate over telephone use, a South African prison spokesman confirmed Tuesday.

Pistorius sustained a minor injury in an alleged assault at the Attridgevill Correctional Centre last week, Singabakho Nxumalo of the Department of Correctional Services told The Associated Press. Pistorius had a medical checkup and was found to have a bruise, said Nxumalo, who added that the incident is being investigated.

“The injury is minor but we at the department take incidents like this seriously and want to prevent any altercations,” said Nxumalo.

The disagreement broke out between Pistorius and another inmate over use of a public telephone, he said.

Pistorius, a double amputee runner who won worldwide acclaim winning in the Paralympics and competing in the Olympics, is serving a 13-year sentence for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Pistorius shot her dead in his home on Valentine’s Day 2013 and claimed he thought she was an intruder.
 
Oscar Pistorius will appeal against his increased prison sentence of 13 years and five months at South Africa’s constitutional court, documents show.

South Africa’s supreme court of appeal (SCA) more than doubled his murder sentence last month, accepting prosecutors’ arguments that the original term of six years for shooting dead his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, was “shockingly lenient”.

Pistorius killed the model and law graduate by firing four bullets from a handgun through a closed toilet door at his luxury home in Pretoria on Valentine’s Day 2013. He claimed he had mistaken her for a burglar.

Steenkamp’s family welcomed the longer sentence and said it showed that justice could prevail in South Africa, but Pistorius will now appeal to the country’s highest court.

The SCA said Pistorius “displays a lack of remorse, and does not appreciate the gravity of his actions”.

The high court judge Thokozile Masipa initially sentenced Pistorius to five years for culpable homicide in 2014. The sentence was much lower than many had expected and was widely criticised.

He served only 10 months of the five-year sentence in prison before being released and put under house arrest.

The state appealed against the culpable homicide conviction, and it was later replaced with murder by the SCA in 2016. Masipa handed down a six-year jail term in July 2016 and Pistorius was returned to jail.

The Paralympic athlete was not in court for last month’s ruling, where the court handed down the minimum 15-year sentence prescribed for murder in South Africa, then subtracted the years Pistorius had already served in jail.

This month Pistorius was injured in an altercation with another inmate over the use of a public phone, according to the Department of Correctional Services.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/19/oscar-pistorius-to-appeal-against-increased-sentence
 
Oscar Pistorius meets with father of murdered partner Reeva Steenkamp as he seeks parole

Oscar Pistorius has met with the father of his ex-partner Reeva Steenkamp, who he murdered in 2013.

The South African athlete, nicknamed Blade Runner after his famous racing prosthetics, shot and killed his then-partner Ms Steenkamp at their home after claiming he mistook her for an intruder.

He was convicted in 2015 after a televised trial that saw him put behind bars for 13-and-a-half years.

Now, a lawyer for the Steenkamp family has confirmed that Pistorius met with the model's father as part of a bid to get parole.

Confirming the meeting in a text message, Tania Koen said the pair met face-to-face on 22 June as part of a process in South Africa called victim-offender dialogue.

The process gives crime victims the chance to meet with offenders, before they become eligible for parole.

Ms Koen added in her message: "The dialogue is a private and confidential matter, hence we ask that our clients' privacy be respected."

The Reeva Rebecca Steenkamp Foundation also confirmed the meeting had taken place, writing on its Facebook page: "We extend our love and support to Barry and June who participated in the process in preparing them for a meeting with Oscar Pistorius. Barry ultimately met with Oscar on 22 June 2022 for the Victim Offender Dialogue.

"A word of sincere gratitude to the Department of Correctional Services, especially the staff at St Albans Prison, for facilitating the process in a sensitive and professional manner."

In South Africa, offenders must serve at least half of their sentence before becoming eligible for parole, but Pistorius must still attend a hearing, which had previously been cancelled because he had not met with Ms Steenkamp's parents.

The former athlete, who despite being a double-amputee ended up running in the Olympics, has served most of his sentence in Pretoria, but was moved to a facility in the city of Ggeberha - the Steenkamps' home town - ahead of the meeting.

A spokesman for the prison services said that while Pistorius met with Ms Steenkamp's father, he will continue to serve his sentence as normal, and that participating in the victim-offender dialogue process does not equate to the end of a sentence or automatic parole.

https://news.sky.com/story/oscar-pi...d-reeva-steenkamp-as-he-seeks-parole-12644184
 
Oscar Pistorius: South African ex-Paralympian seeks to force early prison release

Convicted murderer Oscar Pistorius is going to court to try to force South African authorities to hold a parole hearing for him.

The former Paralympic gold medallist is serving a 13-year sentence for killing his girlfriend in 2013.

Pistorius shot dead Reeva Steenkamp through a locked toilet door, claiming he mistook her for a burglar.

He is seeking an early release over a dispute about when his sentence started.

A series of challenges and rulings by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has led to confusion about when his sentence became effective.

Pistorius argues that he has already served enough time in prison to be eligible for parole, and therefore authorities should look at whether he can be released early.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-62738416
 
He got a very light sentence.

This should've been a lifetime imprisonment or a death penalty.
 
South African Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius, who killed his girlfriend 10 years ago, will know in about a month whether he will be released on parole, his lawyer said Thursday.

"We have been advised by the parole board that the hearing will take place on the 31st of March, 2023," his lawyer Julian Knight told AFP. "It's an internal process."

Pistorius, who is now 36, shot dead Reeva Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine's Day in 2013 when he fired four times through the bathroom door of his ultra-secure Pretoria house.

He pleaded not guilty and denied that he killed Steenkamp in a rage, saying he mistook her for a burglar.

Pistorius, known worldwide as the "Blade Runner" because of his carbon-fibre prosthetics, was sentenced to 13 years behind bars.

Offenders in South Africa are automatically eligible for parole consideration after serving half of their sentence. Pistorius has served more than half.

A decision is usually known the same day of the parole hearing or a day later, and "if the decision is negative, the offender has the right to approach the courts for review," said Knight.

As part of his rehabilitation, Pistorius met Steenkamp's parents June and Barry last year, in a process authorities aid to ensure inmates "acknowledge the harm they have caused to their victims and the society at large".

Asked to comment on the looming hearing, lawyer Tania Koen, who represents Reeva's parents, said "every offender once they have served a certain portion of their sentence is entitled to be eligible to be considered for placement on parole and Oscar Pistorius is no different."

A year before killing Steenkamp, Pistorius became the first double amputee to race at the Olympics at the London 2012 games.

He was initially sentenced to six years in jail but the term was later lengthened to 13 after the state appealed that it was unduly lenient.

AFP
 
The mother of Reeva Steenkamp, the woman who was murdered by Oscar Pistorius, says she does not feel the former Paralympics star is remorseful.

June Steenkamp spoke as she arrived for a parole board hearing that is considering whether he be freed early.

He has so far served half of his 13-year sentence for murdering his girlfriend a decade ago.

If he is granted parole, Pistorius, now aged 36, could be released from jail within a matter of days.

The six-time Paralympic gold medallist has expressed his deep remorse for killing his girlfriend on Valentine's Day in 2013, but continues to maintain he shot her by mistake, believing she was a robber.

"[It'll be] very hard to be in the same room as him. I don't believe his story. I don't believe Oscar is remorseful… or rehabilitated," Mrs Steenkamp said on Friday morning.

The hearing is taking place at Atteridgeville prison, a low-security facility in rolling fields just outside the city of Pretoria.

The former amputee sprinter recently met Barry Steenkamp, Reeva's father, as part of a mandatory process known as "victim-offender dialogue".

But the Steenkamps' lawyer, Tania Koen, said the couple still felt Pistorius had intended to kill their daughter - and her death was a life sentence for them.

"For them, it's 10 missed birthdays, it's 10 Mother's Days, Father's Days, Christmases - so time hasn't healed for them," she told reporters at the prison.

"They don't feel that he should be released."

BBC
 
Oscar Pistorius, the former Paralympian who murdered his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013, has been denied parole in South Africa.

The 36-year-old had been seeking early release after serving half of his 13-year sentence.

Ms Steenkamp's mother, who appeared before the parole board, said she opposed his release as she felt Pistorius was not remorseful.

The prison authorities said the matter would be considered again next year.
 
Seems he is still saying it was self defence and he thought it was an intruder.
 
Should be kept in jail for full sentence if not longer, fact he's showing no remorse and using same excuse is shameful to say least.
 
The trial of "Blade Runner" Oscar Pistorius gripped the world in 2014 when he was convicted of murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

Pistorius has now served half his sentence and on Friday he faces a second chance at parole after he was ruled ineligible for early release from prison in March.​
 
Former Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius is to be freed from jail on parole, 10 years after murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

He shot Steenkamp multiple times through a bathroom door on Valentine's Day in 2013, later claiming he mistook her for a burglar.

Pistorius, now 37, was sentenced in 2016 to serve 13 years in prison.

The parole board has set his release for 5 January 2024.

Steenkamp's mother did not oppose bail but - in a letter sent to the parole board - said she wondered whether Pistorius's "huge anger issues" were truly dealt with in prison, adding she would potentially be "concerned for the safety of any woman" who now comes into contact with him.

June Steenkamp chose not to attend the parole hearing on Friday at Atteridgeville prison, near Pretoria. Her husband and Reeva's father, Barry, died earlier this year and she said the strain on them both had been immense.

BBC
 
BREAKING: Oscar Pistorius has been released from prison on parole this morning according to South Africa’s correctional services department.
 
BREAKING: Oscar Pistorius has been released from prison on parole this morning according to South Africa’s correctional services department.

Paralympian Oscar Pistorius has been freed on parole from a South African jail, nearly 11 years after murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

Officials confirmed Pistorius was "at home" on Friday morning, having served half of his more than 13-year sentence.

Ms Steenkamp's mother said she accepted the decision to release the former athlete - but added her family was the one "serving a life sentence".

BBC
 
How can someone be released after 10 years when he committed a murder? That's a messed up justice system.

It should be life for life (execution) or at least lifetime imprisonment.
 
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