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Oscar Pistorius is shown leaving a court in Pretoria, in his native South Africa, in this file photo. The celebrity athlete has only served one year of his five-year jail term for shooting and killing his model girlfriend on Valentine's Day 2013. Photo: AP
Oscar Pistorius will be released on parole next week and placed under house arrest after serving one year of his five-year jail term for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, the South African department of correctional services said Thursday.
However, he may soon find himself back behind bars as prosecutors have filed an appeal against the culpable homicide verdict, arguing that he should have been convicted of murder over the killing of Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day 2013.
But on Thursday the parole board “approved the placement of offender Oscar Pistorius under correctional supervision as from 20 October 2015,” the department said in a statement.
“The parole board considered all submissions, including the offender’s profile report, the directives of the Parole Review Board and the submission of the victim’s family.”
In this August 5, 2014 file photo, Pistorius starts in the men's 400m sprint semifinal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Photo: AP
The Paralympian star’s lawyers had argued that he should have been released and granted house arrest in August after serving one-sixth of his sentence for killing the South African model in 2013.
Nonetheless, he remained behind bars after Justice Minister Michael Masutha made a last-minute intervention and the case was referred for review.
After meeting last week, the parole board said it wanted to consult with Steenkamp’s family over Pistorius’s possible release.
Steenkamp’s parents say Pistorius killed their daughter on purpose and have previously contested any parole.
Pistorius’s family had accused officials of bowing to “political and media hype” in denying him parole.
June Steenkamp, the mother of Reeva Steenkamp, who was killed by Pistorius, wrote a book about her harrowing experience. Her daughter is pictured on the cover. Photo: AFP
“I do think correctional services have probably considered how unfairly he has been treated. He should have been released on August 21,” Brian Webber, a lawyer representing Pistorius, said last week.
In a trial that made headlines around the world, Pistorius, now 28, was jailed last year for killing Steenkamp, a model and law graduate.
He was found guilty of culpable homicide - a charge equivalent to manslaughter - after saying he shot her through a locked bathroom door because he mistook her for an intruder.
He will face a further test on November 3 when prosecutors appeal to South Africa’s Supreme Court for a murder conviction and a tougher sentence.
Once a poster boy for Paralympic sport, Pistorius, known as the “Blade Runner” for the prosthetic legs he wore on the track, rose to global fame when he raced against able-bodied competitors in the 2012 London Olympics.
‘Blade Runner’ Oscar Pistorius may be released to house arrest after a year in jail for Reeva Steenkamp’s death
Athlete served more than a sixth of his sentence and was eligible for parole in August, but an appeal to be heard next month may land him back behind bars.
Oscar Pistorius as he sat in Pretoria’s High Court during sentencing. Photo: AP
South African Paralympian Oscar Pistorius is expected to walk out of prison next week after serving a year for killing his girlfriend — but he could soon be back behind bars.
The star athlete was sentenced in October 2014 to five years in prison for culpable homicide — a charge equivalent to manslaughter — and is now eligible for release into house arrest after serving more than a sixth of his sentence.
Pistorius was initially due to be freed in August.
But intervention by the minister of justice led to a series of delays before the parole board announced Thursday that he would be released on October 20.
Prosecutors have filed an appeal against the culpable homicide verdict, arguing that he should have been convicted of murder over the killing of Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day 2013.
If they win their case, which is due to begin in the Supreme Court on November 3, the 28-year-old could face at least 15 years in jail.
The athlete — known as “Blade Runner” for the prosthetic legs he wears on the track — won international fame after racing against able-bodied competitors in the 2012 London Olympics.
His trial was broadcast live around the world.
“I think the chances are pretty good that the appeals court will rule in favour of the state and overturn the verdict,” said Ulrich Roux, a criminal lawyer in Johannesburg.
“He is faced with the unusual circumstance that he’s released on house arrest and then the court could find him guilty of murder and he’ll have to return to prison.”
Pistorius does not dispute that he shot his model and law graduate girlfriend four times through a locked toilet door in his Pretoria home in the early hours of February 14, 2013.
But he said he mistook Ms Steenkamp for an intruder. Prosecutors insist that he deliberately killed her after an argument.
South African correctional services officials have indicated that Pistorius has been a good inmate and qualifies for house arrest — a routine procedure in South Africa.
“He’s not ‘out’ on parole... he’s having his sentence converted to a house arrest sentence,” said criminal lawyer David Dadic.
“He’s now confined to a house for a period,” said Dadic. “They’ll confine him essentially to what he would be doing in prison but in the confines of his own house.”
Ms Steenkamp’s parents June and Barry are outraged by Pistorius’s imminent release.
“For our beautiful daughter — for anyone’s life — it’s definitely not long enough,” Ms Steenkamp’s mother told You Magazine, a South African tabloid.
“She was robbed of her future, her career, her chance to get married and have a baby.”
Ms Steenkamp would have turned 32 in August this year.
Pistorius — whose legs were amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old — has lost his lucrative contracts and has no immediate hope of salvaging his athletic career whatever the outcome of the appeal.
His trial exposed his darker side, offering glimpses of a dangerously volatile man with a penchant for guns, beautiful women and fast cars.
Correctional services head Zach Modise said Pistorius, who is being housed in Pretoria’s Kgosi Mampuru II prison, initially wrestled with his sentence, but then committed to reform.
“At the beginning he could not understand that you get locked up in a cell. He struggled with that,” Modise told South Africa’s Sunday Times.
“I think he’s getting to understand you have to control your anger and temper,” said Modise. “I hope when he gets released on probation he will be able to conduct himself well.”
While there is speculation that Pistorius will serve his house arrest at his wealthy Uncle Arnold’s house — a mansion in a posh Pretoria suburb — there is a possibility the athlete will ask to serve his sentence in a different location, away from the glare of the media.
“I think he’s going to come out very quietly, and very discreetly and he’s going to disappear and stay off the radar,” said Martin Hood, a criminal lawyer based in Johannesburg.
“If he breaches any of his conditions he’ll lose his house arrest.”
A typical offender under house arrest has his movements restricted and is not allowed to use alcohol, but conditions vary widely.
“He may have an electronic tag and he would also be subject to correctional services visits,” said Hood, adding that Pistorius could have to serve community service in a hospital or morgue.
