Oscar Pistorius set for parole hearing on Friday

Convicted murderer Oscar Pistorius will be given a second chance at parole at a hearing in Pretoria on Friday after he was wrongly found ineligible for early release from prison in March.

South Africa’s Department of Correctional Services said in a statement sent to The Associated Press that a parole board would review the former Olympic runner’s case again this week and decide “whether or not the inmate is fit to social integration.

Pistorius, a world-renowned double amputee athlete who broke barriers by competing on carbon fiber racing blades at the 2012 London Olympics, has been in prison in Gauteng since late 2014 for the shooting death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

He was initially convicted of culpable homicide, an offense comparable to manslaughter, for repeatedly shooting Steenkamp through the closed toilet door of his home in the South African capital, Pretoria, before dawn of Valentine’s Day 2013.

His conviction was upgraded to murder and he was ultimately sentenced to 13 years and five months in prison after a series of appeals from prosecutors. In South Africa, serious offenders must serve at least half of their sentence before being eligible for parole.

Pistorius’ case and his eligibility for parole were complicated by appeals from prosecutors, who first challenged his conviction for culpable homicide and then a six-year sentence for murder, which they called shockingly lenient.

The Supreme Court of Appeal ultimately ruled in 2017 that Pistorius must serve the minimum 15-year sentence for murder in South Africa, but took into account the year and seven months he had already served for culpable homicide when She handed down the sentence of 13 years and five months.

However, the court erred in not counting another period Pistorius had served while his murder conviction was under appeal, meaning he was in fact eligible for parole in March when he was told at his first hearing that he would not be eligible until August 2024.

Pistorius’ lawyers took his case to the country’s supreme constitutional court. The decision to grant Pistorius another parole hearing on Friday is in effect an admission of the appeal court’s error.

Pistorius is not guaranteed early release. A parole board considers a number of factors, including his conduct and disciplinary record in prison, his mental health and the likelihood that he will commit another crime.

He could be released on full parole or day parole, which would allow him to live and work in the community, but he would have to return to prison at night.

Known as the “Blade Runner,” he was at the height of his fame when he killed Steenkamp a few months after the London Olympics. At his murder trial, he claimed he mistakenly shot Steenkamp, ​​a 29-year-old model, with his licensed 9mm pistol because he thought she was a dangerous intruder hiding in his bathroom at the middle of the night.

Pistorius, who turned 37 on Wednesday, has not been seen for almost a decade, although there have been occasional glimpses of his time in prison.

He was injured during an altercation with another inmate on the prison telephone in 2017. A year earlier, he received treatment for injuries to his wrists, which his family denied were the result of self-harm and said it was caused by him falling into his body. cell.