The South African Department of Correctional Services (DCS) confirmed this Friday that the former Paralympic star, Oscar Pistorius, will be released on parole starting January 5, 2024. The measure has been taken after he served more than 10 years in prison for killing his girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp, on February 14, 2013. The convicted man fired four shots through a bathroom door, claiming that he believed there was an intruder in his home.
"Pistorius was initially convicted of culpable homicide in 2014, however, the case went through a number of appeals and was eventually ratified to 13 years and five months in 2017," the department explained in a press release carried by the South African Government News Agency.
Parole placement forms part of the total rehabilitation programme in correcting offending behaviour and may include continuation of programmes aimed at reintegration whilst in the system of community corrections.
"Oscar Pistorius complies with Section 73 of the Correctional Services Act"
Authorities said the parole decision was made by the Correctional Supervision and Parole Board, after evaluating Pistorius' profile and other material submitted for parole consideration.
"Oscar Pistorius’s parole placement is in line with Section 73 of the Correctional Services Act," the Department of Correctional Services said in a statement obtained by the agency.
In that sense, the department detailed that "Pistorius will complete the remainder of the sentence in the system of community corrections and will be subjected to supervision in compliance with parole conditions until his sentence expires."
In 2017, the Supreme Court of Appeal sentenced the Paralympic athlete to 13 years in prison after the state requested that his initial six-year prison sentence be increased.
