Former South African Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius, convicted of the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp ten years ago, is unlikely to be released immediately even if he is granted parole on Friday, the lawyer for the victim’s family.
The National Parole Board said on Monday it would “consider the case of Oscar Pistorius on Friday 24 November 2023”. However, even if his request was accepted, the ex-athlete would have to wait weeks before regaining his freedom, due to an “internal procedure” of the Department of Corrections (DCS), according to the Steenkamp family lawyer , Tania Koen. If “conditional release is granted, the DCS follows an internal procedure, which generally takes place within a month,” Koen told AFP.
Several lawyers interviewed by AFP indicated that the time between the decision to grant parole and the actual release of the prisoner varies on a case-by-case basis, with some suggesting that the wait could depend on “political will”. The double amputee, who has been serving his sentence since 2014, had his first request for early release rejected in March. DCS said Pistorius had not completed the minimum period of detention required to be released. In South Africa, prisoners are automatically eligible for early release after serving half their sentence. As Pistorius appealed his initial conviction several times, the authorities took their count from his latest conviction. But the Constitutional Court contradicted this version, ruling last month that the counting should begin on the date of the first put behind bars.
On the night of February 13 to 14, 2013, the South African athlete, who will celebrate his 37th birthday on Wednesday, killed his partner, model Reeva Steenkamp, 29, by shooting a rifle through the bathroom door. from his room, in his ultra-secure residence in Pretoria, a murder that shocked the whole world. Arrested in the early hours of February 2013, he pleaded not guilty and denied killing Steenkamp in a fit of rage, claiming to have taken her for a burglar.