The South African Prisons Commission on Friday rejected the parole request of Paralympic Olympic champion Oscar Pistorius, who was convicted of killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp 10 years ago. To everyone’s surprise and in a brief press release, the prison services were informed that the refusal was related to the fact that the convict had not yet served a sufficient part of his sentence to be able to obtain early release.
“The inmate has not completed the minimum period of detention, as set by the Supreme Court of Appeals,” the statement said, the last panel to convict Pistorius in 2017 after several appeals.
In a brief note obtained by AFP, dated Tuesday, this court clarified that the sentence imposed starts from the date of his conviction in 2017 and not from his first conviction in 2014.
“The application has been denied,” Tanya Quinn, the victim’s family’s lawyer, told AFP, welcoming the decision. “It will be reviewed within a year.” Prison services spokesman Singapakho Inksumalo told reporters that Pistorius would only complete the required minimum until August 2024, when he could apply for early release again.
Pistorius, 36, fatally shot his girlfriend, model Reva Steenkamp, in the early hours of Valentine’s Day 2013, when he shot four times through the bathroom door of his high-tech home in Pretoria.
Pistorius pleaded not guilty and denied killing Steenkamp in a state of anger, stating that he thought he was shooting a thief. Nicknamed “Blade Runner” because of his carbon fiber prostheses, Pistorius was sentenced to 13 years behind bars.
A specialized committee met on Friday morning at Atteridgeville Prison, near Pretoria, where the former athlete is serving his sentence. South African law states that a person convicted of murder can benefit from early release once half of their sentence has expired.
In contrast, Steenkamp’s parents expressed their opposition to his early release, believing that Pistorius had never told the truth. “I can’t believe his story,” the victim’s mother, John, said she was sad when she arrived outside the prison.
A year before Steenkamp was killed, Pistorius, who had both legs amputated at the age of 11 months, became the first amputee to compete in the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Two weeks later, he won the 400m and relay golds 4 times 100m in the Paralympic Games, and came second in the 200m. In Beijing 2008, he won the 100m, 200m and 400m golds in the Paralympic competitions.
After London 2012 he became a worldwide sporting icon that sponsors are panting towards. But his achievements collapsed after the murder, after his trial made headlines around the world.
He was initially sentenced to six years in prison, but the sentence was later extended to 13 after the South African Public Prosecution Service appealed the decision, finding it “shamefully lenient”.
