Former Olympic runner; Oscar Pistorius has been denied parole.
A parole board determined that despite being convicted of murder for the 2013 murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, he had not completed the “minimum incarceration period” necessary to be released from jail.
According to the board, Pistorius will be eligible to reapply for release in August 2024, according to a statement from South Africa’s Department of Prisons.
According to the statement, the board highlighted a fresh explanation of Pistorius’s sentence released by South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal three days ago. The verdict came as a surprise, but due to the numerous appeals in Pistorius’ case, there has been legal debate on when he should be eligible for parole.
After being first found guilty in 2014 of culpable homicide, a crime similar to manslaughter, the case went through several rounds of appeals before Pistorius was finally given a murder conviction and 13 years and five months in jail in 2017.
In South Africa, serious criminals must serve at least half of their sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
Pistorius, a multiple Paralympic champions who made history by competing against competitors with able bodies at the 2012 Olympics, was found guilty of killing Ms. Steenkamp (29), who was shot at his house on Valentine’s Day.
The 36-year-old claims he accidentally shot reality television star and model, Ms. Steenkamp, because he mistook her for an intruder.
He claimed he was unaware that she had gotten out of bed and gone to the restroom. Barry and June Steenkamp, her parents, think he killed her deliberately following a late-night argument.
At his upmarket Pretoria house in the early hours, double amputee Pistorius fired four shots with his authorized 9mm pistol through a lavatory door. Many still believe that Pistorius till date has not told the truth about was really happened on the night he killed his girlfriend.
