<<Print>>Oscar Pistorius will only be able to leave his house to go to church when he is freed from jail next week. Oscar who is supposed to be a devout Christian, whose faith is said to have deepened over recent months, must be accompanied on trips to attend mass.
While under “house arrest” at his uncle’s home he will be allowed few visitors, who will have to be approved by the court, and someone will have to shop for him under strict parole conditions the Sunday Mirror can reveal today. There was an international outcry when it was revealed the Paralympic gold winner will serve just 10 months of a five-year term for killing his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, 29. During his trial Pistorius, 28, was seen clasping rosary beads and intensively reading the book Breakthrough Prayer: The Power of Connecting with the Heart of God, by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Church’s pastor Jim Cymbal.
He is since said to have been studying the Bible. His release terms mean he will remain a prisoner in his home ahead of an appeal to have his manslaughter conviction overturned.
A mystery donor is said to have offered to help fund the bid, which could lead to a retrial. A source on the Pistorius legal team said he has been told his release date will either be August 21, 22 or 23. The source added: “The appeal court can’t send him back to prison, they can only order a retrial.
Is it impossible? No. Is it likely, also no.” His team say the appeal is based only on a legal issue and nothing to do with the State’s initial version that he wanted to kill Reeva and that he has an uncontrollable temper.
Oscar Pistorius's anticipated early release from prison has been described as a "slap in the face" for the grieving parents of Reeva Steenkamp.
The athlete, who was sentenced to five years in jail in October last year, is likely to be freed on 21 August after serving just ten months for shooting his girlfriend through a locked toilet door on Valentine's Day in 2013. He is expected to be released and placed under house arrest following a recommendation from South Africa's correctional services department, reports the BBC.
In a letter to the parole board, Reeva's parents said they had forgiven Pistorius but insisted that "incarceration of ten months for taking a life is simply not enough". They added that his release would not send out the "proper message" nor "serve as the deterrent it should".
Commentators from across the world have expressed a similar view. Writing in the Herald Sun, Wendy Tuohy, says the "obscenely" early release "cannot be called justice". Describing it as a "slap in the face" for Reeva's grieving parents, she adds: "You wonder if fame and connections count for more than a woman's life."
In The Guardian, Joan Smith claims the early release "speaks volumes" about attitudes towards male violence in South Africa. "In a country where gender inequality is entrenched, this is how easy it is for a well-known man to usurp the role of victim," she writes.
But South Africa's Daily Maverick newspaper says that "procedurally, there is nothing untoward about Pistorius spending only ten months of this sentence behind bars". This course of events was "virtually guaranteed" from the moment Judge Thokozile Masipa sentenced the athlete to five years in jail for culpable homicide, says the newspaper.
The country's Criminal Procedure Act and the Correctional Services Act allows for an offender to serve "only one sixth of his/her sentence in custody" when the sentence does not exceed five years.
Diane Bass, a criminal defence attorney in Los Angeles, told CBS News: "I don't think this is anything to do with his celebrity status. It has to do with the fact that the parole boards says that he has been behaving well and unless anything changes they are the ones recommending that he be released after ten months."
Nevertheless, Pistorius could find himself back behind bars for a minimum of 15 years if prosecutors win their appeal to escalate his conviction from culpable homicide to murder. They are expected to have their case heard in South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal in November. The state has until 17 August to submit court papers outlining its argument. Then Pistorius's defence team has until 17 September to submit a response.
Last September, Masipa ruled that the prosecution had not provided enough evidence to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Pistorius foresaw that he might kill somebody when he fired four shots into his toilet door. Therefore, Pistorius was cleared of murder and convicted on the lesser charge of culpable homicide.
However, the prosecution team – led by Gerrie Nel – claimed Masipa had "erred" on the conviction and described the sentence as "shockingly light".
Oscar Pistorius is likely to be freed on 21 August after serving just ten months for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, according to reports.
Pistorius was convicted of culpable homicide last September after shooting his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp four times through a locked toilet door on Valentine's Day in 2013.
He was sentenced to five years in October last year, but is expected to be released on house arrest as early as 21 August following a recommendation from South Africa's correctional services department, reports the BBC.
One of his family members, who did not want to be named, said: "Oscar will be released on parole by the end of August."
Prosecutors, who have launched an appeal to escalate the conviction from culpable homicide to the more serious charge of murder, are expected to have their case heard in South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal in November.
The state has until 17 August to submit court papers outlining its argument. Then Pistorius's defence team has until 17 September to submit a response.
Last September, Masipa ruled that the prosecution had not provided enough evidence to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Pistorius foresaw that he might kill somebody when he fired four shots into his toilet door. Therefore, Pistorius was cleared of murder and convicted on the lesser charge of culpable homicide.
However, the prosecution team – led by Gerrie Nel – claimed Masipa had "erred" on the conviction and described the sentence as "shockingly light".