APA-Pretoria (South Africa) A parole board in South Africa will on Friday decide on whether disgraced Paralympian Oscar Pistorius should be released from prison three years earlier than his release date, Ministry of Correctional Services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said on Thursday.
Pistorius killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp at his home a decade ago when he shot her dead in a crime that gripped the world.
The Paralympian, who is now 36, shot dead the model in the early hours of Valentine’s Day in 2013 when he fired four times through the bathroom door of his ultra-secure Pretoria house.
He pleaded not guilty and denied that he killed Steenkamp in a rage, saying he mistook her for a burglar. The court, however, found him guilty and sentenced him to 13 years.
“The board members must determine whether the purpose of imprisonment has been served in order for him to be released,” Nxumalo said.
As part of his rehabilitation, Pistorius met Steenkamp’s parents June and Barry last year, in a process authorities said was aimed at ensuring inmates “acknowledge the harm they have caused to their victims and the society at large.”
Reeva’s mother June is expected to attend the hearing to “make representations to the parole board” which would include both parents’ victim impact statements, according to Tania Koen, a lawyer representing the Steenkamps.
NM/jn/APA