Oscar Pistorius granted parole ten Years after Girlfriend’s murder

Former Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius, convicted a decade ago for the murder of his girlfriend, will be released on parole in January 2024. The 37-year-old South African Ex-Paralympic champion secured conditional release on Friday, effective from January 5, ten years after the killing of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

«The Department of Correctional Services confirms the placement on parole of Mr. Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius, effective from January 5, 2024», stated the correctional administration after deliberations by a special commission at a prison near Pretoria where the athlete is detained.

This commission was tasked with assessing whether the convicted murderer is «fit or unfit for social reintegration».

June Steenkamp, the victim’s mother, expressed her belief to the commission that Pistorius «has not been rehabilitated» in prison. However, the family did not formally oppose the early release request.

The Constitutional Court revisited the calculation in March, Pistorius’s initial request was denied.

South African law stipulates that a convict can, once half of their sentence has elapsed, qualify for parole.

Since Pistorius was sentenced in the first instance and subsequently in several appeals, the correctional services had initially determined that, according to the count at the time of the last conviction, he had not served the required time for parole eligibility.

However, the Constitutional Court contradicted this calculation, stating last month that the count should commence from the date of his initial detention.

In the night of February 13-14, 2013, the 37-year-old South African athlete killed his partner, model Reeva Steenkamp, 29, by firing a rifle through the door of the bathroom in his heavily secured residence in Pretoria.

Arrested in the early morning, he pleaded mistaken identity, claiming to have thought an intruder had entered his home.