Former paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius was refused parole yesterday after seeking early release from prison, a decade after he shot and killed his girlfriend, lawyers and authorities said.
The department of correctional services said a parole board found Pistorius had not completed the minimum detention period required to be let out.
“We were… advised at this point in time that it has been denied and it will be considered again in one year’s time,” said Tania Koen, a lawyer for the victim’s family.
Pistorius killed Reeva Steenkamp, a model, in the early hours of Valentine’s Day 2013, firing four times through the bathroom door of his ultra secure Pretoria house, in a killing that shocked the world.
A parole hearing opened yesterday morning at the jail on the outskirts of the capital where the 36-year-old is detained.
Steenkamp’s parents, who opposed an early release, saying they do not believe the ex-athlete told the truth about what happened and has not shown remorse, welcomed the decision.
“While we welcome today’s decision, today is not a cause for celebration. We miss Reeva terribly and will do so for the rest of our lives. We believe in justice and hope that it continues to prevail,” they said in a statement via their lawyer.
Earlier, Steenkamp’s mother, June, had made the couple’s position known to the board, addressing the hearing in person.
“I don’t believe his story,” she told journalists from the back of
a car as she arrived at the correctional facility.
She did not meet face to face with her daughter’s killer yesterday, as the parole board decided to hear the two separately, Koen later said outside the prison.
“It was very unpleasant for her… but she knew that she had to do it for Reeva,” Koen said.
Steenkamp’s father Barry was unable to travel because of ill health but submitted a statement, she added.
“Before he dies he has one wish and that’s Oscar would just tell us exactly what happened that night,” Carmen Dodd, who read the statement to the board, told journalists.
Comprising at least three people, including prison services and community members, the board was to determine whether the purpose of imprisonment had been served, according to the department of correctional services.
“The [board] granted inmate Pistorius a further profile for August 2024,” correctional services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said.
“The reason provided is the inmate did not complete the minimum detention period as ruled by Supreme Court of Appeal.”
Known worldwide as the “Blade Runner” for his carbon-fibre prosthetics, Pistorius was found guilty of murder and given a 13-year jail sentence in 2017 after a lengthy trial and several appeals.
He had pleaded not guilty and denied killing Steenkamp in a rage, saying he mistook her for a burglar. Prisoners in South Africa are automatically eligible for parole consideration after serving half of their sentence. Pistorius had been thought to have served more than half, having
started his term in 2014.
Pistorius met Steenkamp’s parents last year, part of a process that authorities say aims to ensure inmates “acknowledge the harm they have caused to their victims and the society at large”.
Koen described the meeting as “very emotional” and “traumatic”.
A year before killing Steenkamp, Pistorius became the first double amputee to race in the Olympics, competing at the 2012 London Games. He was a household name worldwide and courted by sponsors. Then it all came crashing down after the killing.
Inmates have the right to approach the courts for review when parole is denied.
– The Citizen
