People in the South African capital Pretoria gave mixed reaction on Friday to the news that former Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius was released from prison on parole earlier today.
Pistorius, who served nearly nine years for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013, was believed to be at his uncle’s mansion after authorities secretly moved him at an undisclosed time to avoid the glare of news crews waiting outside the jail.
Residents in Pretoria, where Pistorius will reside for the duration of his parole, felt that the world-famous double-amputee athlete deserved to be released as he had served his time for the murder.
“Oscar’s parole is something that is not bad. Nobody is perfect. He did make a mistake, he served and I think it is high time he comes back to the community,” said local resident Thapelo Rakhoale.
“I hope to see him one day back on the road running again and being one of my favorites… I know he killed someone, but we don’t know what was his intentions,” another resident said.
South Africa’s Department of Corrections announced in a two-sentence statement at around 8:30 a.m. that Pistorius had been released and was “now at home.” It gave no more details other than to confirm Pistorius’ new status as “a parolee.”
Pistorius, 37, served nearly nine years of his murder sentence of 13 years and five months for the fatal shooting of model and law graduate Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day 2013.
He became eligible for early release from prison having served at least half his sentence and was approved for parole in November.
Department of Corrections spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo told The Associated Press that Pistorius was processed according to procedure: taken from the Atteridgeville Correctional Center prison in the South African capital, Pretoria, to a parole office before being released to his family. Nxumalo declined to say what time Pistorius was released and where he was.
Pistorius will live under strict parole conditions until the remainder of his murder sentence expires in December 2029.
Oscar Pistorius sits in the dock during his trial at the North Gauteng High Court in
The Stop Gender Violence Campaign – a coalition of 36 organisations, which advocates for an end to gender-based violence in South Africa – registers with strong concern Judge Thokozile Masipa’s refusal to see the Pistorius case as involving a gender violence issue. Continue reading OSCAR PISTORIUS CASE – WHERE IS GENDER AND GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE?→
Oscar Pistorius sits in the dock during his trial at the North Gauteng High Court in
PRETORIA: Paralympian star Oscar Pistorius on Monday pleaded not guilty to the Valentine’s Day murder of his girlfriend, as he faced a possible life sentence in the full glare of a trial broadcast around the world.
After a state prosecutor charged that Pistorius “unlawfully and intentionally did kill” girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, the sprinter entered a plea of “not guilty, my lady”.
Pistorius, 27, also pleaded not guilty to three unrelated gun charges.
Entering the North Gauteng High Court on the opening day of the three-week trial Monday, Pistorius looked nervous, dressed in a black suit and tie.
Standing in the dock before a packed courtroom, Pistorius looked on as his lawyer Kenny Oldwage outlined the defence’s case.
In the statement Pistorius admitted killing Steenkamp, but denied murderous intent. “We were in a loving relationship,” Oldwage said on Pistorius’s behalf.
Inside the wood-clad court room, the victim’s mother June, clad in black, looked on, coming face-to-face with Pistorius for the first time.
“I want to look at Oscar, really look him in the eyes, and see for myself the truth about what he did to Reeva,” she told a British newspaper ahead of the trial.
Further down on the wood-panelled bench sat Pistorius’s brother Carl, sister Aimee and a handful other relatives.
The families did not interact.
The prosecution argues that the double amputee knowingly killed Steenkamp, while the defence will say he believed he was shooting an intruder.
Judge Thokozile Masipa is presiding in the case that has already been likened to the OJ Simpson murder trial in the US.
The state will seek to prove that Pistorius killed Steenkamp in a rage after the couple quarrelled in the early hours of February 14, 2013.
Prosecutors are expected to rely on the testimony of neighbours who claim to have heard shouting from the house as well as phone records that might indicate strife between the two.
They are also expected to claim that Pistorius had watched porn just before the shooting, apparently contradicting his account of events.
The athlete, who became the first double amputee to compete against able-bodied athletes in the Olympics at the London 2012 Games, will also be asked why he allegedly told security guards at his luxury estate that everything was fine when they phoned after hearing gunshots.
In a bid to illustrate a history of reckless behaviour with firearms, the state claims that Pistorius on two occasions fired a pistol in public, once through the sunroof of a moving car and months later at a busy restaurant in Johannesburg.
He is also charged with possessing unlicensed ammunition.
Police investigators travelled to the United States to seek help from the FBI and computer giant Apple to access information on Pistorius’s iPhone.
Ex-girlfriends among witnesses
If the opening arguments finish early enough on Monday, the state may call the first of 107 witnesses, an exhaustive list that includes the defendant’s former girlfriends, though it is unlikely everyone will be called to testify.
Born in 1986 in Johannesburg with no fibula bones, Pistorius had both legs amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old.
He used fibre-optic running blades in competition, earning him the nickname “Blade Runner”.
If found guilty of premeditated murder, Pistorius faces 25 years in South Africa’s notoriously brutal jails and an abrupt end to his glittering sporting career.
But the state has already admitted that ballistic tests suggest he might not have been wearing his prostheses when he fired the shots that killed Steenkamp, which removes a key argument for premeditation.
During Pistorius’s lengthy bail application last year, his defence team sketched the picture of a loving couple who even contemplated marriage.
CCTV footage emerged last week showing the pair kissing and flirting at an upmarket Pretoria grocery store 10 days before Steenkamp’s death.
Victim’s mother attends trial
The trial is slated to last three weeks, but will likely last longer as teams of lawyers weigh Pistorius’s account of events against forensic and other evidence which the state says shows murderous intent.
A prosecutorial source said the trial would run until its completion with no planned postponements — unusual in South Africa’s heavily backlogged judicial system.
South Africa’s courts do not have juries, but Judge Masipa has appointed two senior advocates to help her in her decision.
In the courtroom, the front row of the public gallery has been set aside for the Pistorius and Steenkamp families.
Pistorius’s family reiterated their support last weekend.
“We love Oscar, and believe in him, and will be standing by him throughout the coming trial,” his uncle Arnold said in a statement.
Forty national and an equal number of international journalists have been accredited to cover the case from the courtroom.
A South African satellite network has set up a dedicated channel to cover the trial, parts of which will be broadcast live on television, while all of it will be available in audio.
Source:channelnewsasia.com
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