South African Olympian Oscar Pistorius, who fatally shot his girlfriend in 2013, is up for parole but must meet with her parents before he is considered for early release, the Associated Press reported Monday.
Pistorius, a double-amputee who competed at the 2012 Olympics, was convicted in 2015 of murder after shooting Reva Steenkamp, a model, multiple times through a bathroom door in his home on Valentine's Day 2013. Pistorius was sentenced to 13 years and five months in prison, and became eligible for parole after serving half his sentence under South African law.
Barry and June Steenkamp, Reva's parents, want a face-to-face meeting with Pistorius, as is their right under South Africa's victim-offender dialogue policy. The Steenkamps have said they want to question Pistorius on why he shot their daughter.
"They [Barry and June] feel that Reeva has got a voice. They are Reeva's voice, and they owe it to their beloved daughter," said Tania Koen, the Steenkamps' lawyer.
The opinion of victims' families is considered when deciding whether to release an offender, but it's not the only criteria the parole board bases the decision on.
A parole hearing for Pistorius was scheduled for last month but was canceled, partly because a meeting between him and Steenkamp's parents had not been arranged, lawyers for both parties told AP on Monday. A full report on Pistorius' time in prison also was not available, causing a delay in the hearing. A new date has not been set.
For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.
The Steenkamps will also be allowed to make recommendations to the parole board, although Koen wouldn't say if they will oppose Pistorius' release.
"We have discussed it," Koen said, but declined to give details.
The 34-year-old Pistorius could be taken from where he is incarcerated at the Atteridgeville Correctional Center in the capital, Pretoria, to the Steenkamps' home city of Gqerberha (formerly Port Elizabeth) for the victim-offender meeting because, according to Koen, Barry Steenkamp is unable to travel due to his health.
Pistorius lawyer Knight said it might "turn out" that way but the corrections department would decide. Knight said he was hopeful that the meeting between Pistorius and the Steenkamps, which must happen before a parole hearing, could take place by the end of the year.
It was a "huge surprise" for the Steenkamps when corrections services officials contacted them last month to say that Pistorius is eligible for parole, Koen said. They believed he would only be eligible in 2023, she said.
"[It] opens a lot of wounds, or rips off the plasters they had put on those wounds," Koen said.
The confusion over when he would be eligible emanated from Pistorius' long and protracted murder trial and two subsequent appeals by prosecutors. Pistorius went on trial in 2014 and his case was only finalized in 2018.
The multiple Paralympic champion was initially found guilty of culpable homicide—an offense comparable to manslaughter—for shooting Steenkamp with his licensed 9 mm pistol. He claimed at his trial it was a tragic accident and he mistook her for a dangerous intruder.
Prosecutors appealed the manslaughter finding and secured a murder conviction. Pistorius was sentenced to six years in jail for murder, but prosecutors again appealed what they called a shockingly light punishment for murder. The Supreme Court of Appeal then more than doubled his sentence in 2017.
Knight later sought clarification over the sentence from the Supreme Court to see if the time Pistorius had already served in prison for culpable homicide should count toward his parole. It did, Knight said, meaning Pistorius could be considered for parole two years earlier than courts had initially indicated.
Knight said he believed Pistorius had met the requirements to be released early.
"From what I have observed of him he has been a model prisoner while he has been in prison," Knight said. "My view is that he does meet the requirements to be placed on parole but the procedures must be followed."
Knight said a parole board could impose a range of conditions on Pistorius if he is released, like only being allowed to leave home to go to work during the week, and only for a limited time on weekends to buy groceries and attend church.
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