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Oscar Pistorius to Leave Prison for House Arrest Oscar Pistorius to Leave Prison for House Arrest
(35 minutes later)
JOHANNESBURG — Oscar Pistorius, the Paralympic gold medalist who was found guilty of culpable homicide in the killing of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, will leave prison next Tuesday after serving about one year of his five-year sentence, South African officials said on Thursday.JOHANNESBURG — Oscar Pistorius, the Paralympic gold medalist who was found guilty of culpable homicide in the killing of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, will leave prison next Tuesday after serving about one year of his five-year sentence, South African officials said on Thursday.
Mr. Pistorius’s release was delayed several times; he was originally scheduled to leave prison in August.Mr. Pistorius’s release was delayed several times; he was originally scheduled to leave prison in August.
The South African Department of Correctional Services said in a statement that he would spend the next four years under house arrest and “correctional supervision.” The South African Department of Correctional Services said in a statement that he would spend the remainder of his sentence — about four years — under house arrest and “correctional supervision.”
The parole board made its decision in the face of pressure from Ms. Steenkamp’s family, who have argued publicly that Mr. Pistorius had not served enough time in prison for the killing. The parole board made its decision in the face of pressure from Ms. Steenkamp’s family, who have argued publicly that Mr. Pistorius, 28, had not served enough time in prison for the killing.
The justice minister, Michael Masutha, intervened in August to delay Mr. Pistorius’s scheduled release, saying he had not yet served the minimum one-sixth portion of his sentence. The Corrections Department announced in June that Mr. Pistorius would be released from prison for good behavior and placed under house arrest beginning on Aug. 21. Under South African law, Mr. Pistorius was eligible for early release after serving a minimum of one-sixth of his sentence.
But in addition to Ms. Steenkamp’s family, women’s groups criticized the decision and pressed the justice minister, Michael Masutha, to block his release. Mr. Masutha intervened in August to delay it, saying that the parole board had erred in taking up Mr. Pistorius’s case before the minimum time had been served.
Mr. Pistorius’s family then began pressing the authorities to end the delays, which they said were politically motivated.
“This experience leaves us with the uncomfortable conclusion that the public, political and media hype that was allowed to develop around Oscar’s trial has undermined his right to be treated like any other prisoner,” the family said in a statement last week.
Mr. Pistorius, a double-amputee athlete known as the Blade Runner because of his prosthetic legs, was convicted last year in a trial that was watched around the world. Mr. Pistorius shot Ms. Steenkamp in the locked bathroom of his home in February 2013. Prosecutors and Ms. Steenkamp’s family argued that Mr. Pistorius killed her deliberately after an argument; he maintained that he mistook her for a burglar.
The charge on which he was convicted, culpable homicide, is the South African equivalent of manslaughter. Prosecutors filed an appeal in the case that is scheduled to be heard in November.