Almost 10 years after the murder of his girlfriend, Oscar Pistorius asks for house arrest but there is controversy

Former South African Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius initiated procedures to obtain permission to complete the sentence at home after he was found guilty of the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on February 14, 2013.

Pistorius’ lawyers went to court to denounce the prison authorities for failing to convene the commission of experts that must define whether the Paralympic athlete can continue his sentence at home.

Pistorius claims to have maintained exemplary conduct since February last year, in which he qualifies to complete the second half of his sentence at home.

But Atteridgeville Prison authorities argue that due to a notification problem, Pistorius is not entitled to house arrest until March next yearwhen the final part of his sentence begins.

The controversy begins with the extensive trial, which included two appeals and lasted from 2013 to 2018after which Pistorius was sentenced to six years in prison after being found guilty of manslaughter.

The Attorney General appealed and the sentence was changed to voluntary homicide with 13 years and 5 months of imprisonment, but it was never specified whether the 506 days spent in prison were included with the first sentence.

South African law provides for the possibility of probation after serving half of the sentence.

To get out of prison, a commission must listen to the opinion of a psychologist, the social worker, the prison managers and, above all, evaluate the views of the victim’s parentsin this case after the meeting held last June.

According to the former athlete’s lawyer, Julian Knight, the Paralympic champion has always maintained exemplary conduct and cMeet all the requirements to successfully pass the assessment and, at the age of 35, he completes the second half of his sentence at home.

Source: ANSA