Eleven years after the murder of his wife, Oscar Pistorius was officially released from custody this Friday, January 5.
Conditional release for Oscar Pistorius. The former athletics legend, Paralympic champion and first disabled athlete to participate in the Olympic Games with the able-bodied, was released this Friday, January 5, 11 years after the murder of his wife Reeva Steenkamp. As a reminder, the athlete was sentenced at the end of an endless legal series, to 13 years and five months in prison for the murder of the latter after a reclassification of his trial. On the night of February 13-14, 2013, he shot four times through the closed bathroom door of his bedroom, but always pleaded not guilty, saying he believed there was an intruder.
He has been admitted to the community correctional system and is now at home,” the prison service said in a statement, confirming that his release on parole is now effective. The 37-year-old former athlete benefits from this freedom because my South African law provides that a person convicted of murder is eligible for a reduced sentence once half of his sentence has expired. But having been convicted at first instance, then several times on appeal, it had been calculated that, according to a counting starting on the date of his last conviction, he had not served the minimum time. But the Constitutional Court ruled last month that the counting should begin on the date of his first placement in detention.
If the Steenkamp family did not show their refusal to see Oscar Pistorius free, the victim’s mother, June Steenkamp, ??declared that those close to Reeva Steenkamp were “sentenced for life”. Asking if “justice has been served to Reeva” and if “Oscar has served enough time,” she explained that “there is never justice to the extent that your loved one will never come back.” June Steenkamp had stated several times over the last few years that she still cannot believe “Oscar’s version of the facts”, remaining convinced that the latter “did not rehabilitate himself” in detention. To try to complete this rehabilitation, the spokesperson for the Steenkamp family had asked Oscar Pistorius and the courts a few weeks ago to “follow therapy for his anger, carry out community service and follow therapy on the violence against women
