- Oscar Pistorius, a former Paralympic champion, will be freed on parole from prison for killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, over 11 years ago. In 2016, a South African court sentenced Pistorius to 13 years and 5 months in jail.
- His release date is scheduled for January 5, 2024, by the parole board. After being freed, Pistorius will have to go to counseling sessions and be watched over by the government until his sentence is fully served.
- June Steenkamp, the mother of Ms. Steenkamp, had doubts about Pistorius’s “huge anger issues” being adequately addressed in jail, but she did not oppose his release. Any lady who now gets into contact with him would worry her for safety.
- June Steenkamp said she lacked the strength to face him again at this point and declined to attend the parole hearing at Atteridgeville jail, which is close to Pretoria.
- In less than a year, Pistorius has already had two parole hearings. He had not served out the required minimum amount of time in jail, thus his first attempt at parole failed in March.
- The Constitutional Court of South Africa subsequently declared it to be an error, which prompted the fresh parole hearing. All offenders in South Africa have the right to have their eligibility for parole reviewed after serving half of their whole sentence.
- Pistorius killed 29-year-old Reeva Steenkamp, a successful model and law graduate, in February 2013. She passed away nearly immediately. In 2015, the Supreme Court of Appeal found Pistorius guilty of murder after he had previously been found guilty of the lesser charge of culpable homicide.
- The “blade runner” was a well-known athlete who competed against athletes without disabilities in London 2012 Olympics and won many gold medals at the Paralympic Games.
Source:
BBC.com
