Oscar Pistorius ‘to be freed from prison in August’
South Africa’s Department of Correctional Services said a South African parole board is set to recommend that the disgraced athlete Oscar Pistorius, who was recently convicted of killing Reeva Steenkamp (his girlfriend at the time), be released from prison as early as August.
Oscar, 28, was sentenced back in October 2014 to five years in prison for culpable homicide in the killing of his girlfriend on Valentine’s Day 2013. In South Africa, culpable homicide means a person was killed unintentionally but unlawfully.
Pistorius acknowledged firing shots through the bathroom door in his home, but said he thought there was an intruder in the bathroom and had not realised that Reeva had got up in the night.
Pistorius’ fall from grace was one of the most dramatic since that of O.J. Simpson in 1994, when the American football player turned sports announcer and movie star, was charged with murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.
OJ Simpson had been acquitted in a very public criminal trial but found responsible for the deaths in a subsequent civil suit.
Like Simpson, Oscar Pistorius was handsome, successful, popular and wealthy when the charges were filed.
In his 2014 trial, a judge found Pistorius to be not guilty of murder. Prosecutors are appealing that verdict.
Both of Pistorius’ legs were amputated before his first birthday. In the London 2012 Summer Olympics, Oscar became the first athlete with both legs amputated to participate in the Olympic Games, running in the 400-meter race and the 4 x 400 meter relay.
Under South African law, Pistorius must serve at least one-sixth of his sentence — 10 months — before being released. It is said that the parole board is prepared to recommend that he be released on August 21, 10 months to the day since his sentencing.
Video below showing Oscar playing football with Radovan Krejcir, who is currently awaiting trial to face multiple charges including kidnapping, attempted murder and drug dealing.
In the 90 second clip, which was published by South Africa’s Daily Sun, the men are seen taking it in turns to play striker and goalkeeper in an empty exercise yard at Kgosi Mampuru Prison in Pretoria, South Africa.