Former South African Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius will be released on parole on January 5 next year, 10 years after the murder of his girlfriend of which he was found guilty, authorities announced on Friday.
“The Department of Correctional Services confirms the parole of Oscar Pistoritus, from January 5, 2024,” authorities announced in a statement, after the meeting of a committee appointed to consider the possible release of the former athlete, holder of several Paralympic titles, to analyze .
Oscar Pistorius is serving a sentence of 13 years and five months in a Pretoria prison for the death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013.
After being sentenced to six years in prison in 2016, Pistorius saw his sentence increased by the Supreme Court to thirteen years and five months in 2017. felt that the first sentence was “too lenient”.
Last March, the 37-year-old former athlete saw a similar request denied after authorities ruled he had not yet served half of his sentence, as determined by the country’s law.
However, the Constitutional Court later clarified that the sentence should be counted from the first arrest and not from the date it was increased.
On the night of February 13-14, 2013, Pistorius shot his 29-year-old girlfriend through the bathroom door, claiming he thought he was a thief, and killed her with four shots.
Nicknamed ‘Blade Runner’, because of his carbon blade prosthetics, Oscar Pistorius was Paralympic champion in the 200 meters in Athens in 2004 and the 100, 200 and 400 meters in Beijing in 2008. He was also a silver medalist in the 200 meters at London 2012 and bronze in the 100 meters in Athens 2004.
The South African Paralympic athlete also made history by becoming the first bipedal amputee to run on par with non-disabled athletes in the 400 meters at the 2012 London Olympics.
Source: DN
