Hearing after the murder of his girlfriend: will Oscar Pistorius be released early?

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They hoped to get information about the meeting, which took place behind closed doors. The parole hearing started shortly after 10 a.m. local time (9 a.m. CET) and was expected to last several hours.

On the night of Valentine’s Day 2013, Pistorius killed his then girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp with four shots through the toilet door of his villa. The proceedings against the former sprinter dragged on for years and involved several authorities. Pistorius said at the time that he shot several times because he feared an intruder was behind the door. But the evidence was against him.

The now 37-year-old has served approximately half of his sentence of 13 years and five months. Under South African law, he is automatically entitled to a parole hearing. According to the correctional authority, Pistorius will appear in person on Friday.

The victim’s mother is fighting against release

June Steenkamp, ​​the mother of slain Reeva Steenkamp, ​​also provided a written statement, which her lawyer read to media gathered outside the prison. “I don’t believe Oscar’s version where he thought the person in the toilet was a burglar,” it says. She is also not convinced that Pistorius has been rehabilitated because he has never admitted the truth.

Since her daughter was murdered, her life has been “an endless black hole of pain and loneliness” that could never be filled, June Steenkamp wrote. Her husband Barry, who died in September after suffering a stroke shortly after the trial began, died of a broken heart.

According to the Department of Corrections, the committee may not reach a decision on the same day. If Pistorius is not released on parole, he has the right to appeal.

A bureaucratic error delayed the hearing

A parole hearing had already taken place in March. This was initially rejected on the grounds of a “bureaucratic error”. However, in October the Constitutional Court of South Africa ruled that an error had been made. Friday’s hearing was the rescheduled statutory date.

At the 2012 Paralympic Games, Pistorius won six gold medals on specially made carbon prostheses. As a child, his legs were amputated below the knees due to a genetic defect. (SDA/SME)

Source : Blick