The issue is that the parole board has decided to grant Oscar Pistorius’ release even before he spent a sixth of his five-year sentence in jail, which is required by law in order to have the chance of parole.
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On Reeva’s birthday it was also announced that Pistorius would not be released on parole this Friday, as originally planned, due to the Justice Minister’s intervention.
Masutha put Pistorius’ early release – scheduled for Friday – on hold, saying it was approved too soon.
On October 21 2014, the High Court in Pretoria sentenced Pistorius to five years in jail for killing Steenkamp, his girlfriend at the time.
Spokesman Mhaga said “the decision of the parole board will have to be suspended” until the board can meet again for a fresh hearing.
Pistorius’s lawyers are “considering their options”, Anneliese Burgess, a spokeswoman for the athlete and his family, said by phone today.
Many believe that this will merely cause a slight delay to his early release.
Reeva Steenkamp’s death and the trial of Oscar Pistorius has been hard for the Reeva’s family, but on her birthday, her mother June said that they would rather focus on their daughter than on Pistorius’ said release from prison, as the Daily Mail UK reports.
But the justice minister said the early release decision should not have been taken before he had actually served out that 10-month period.
Pistorius’s large legal team and family have remained tight-lipped about the latest development in a case already characterized by twists and turns more suited to a television drama.
Mentoor also said the South African runner complained about gym equipment, which was then replaced, and that he only eats processed food from the prison store out of fear of poisoning.
Steenkamp’s family protested the release, as did a local women’s group.
But he says he mistook her for an intruder.
Prosecutors want the verdict of culpable homicide, equivalent to manslaughter, raised to murder because they argue Pistorius must have known when he fired that the person behind the door could be killed. By law he should have served 10 months of his sentence before his case could be reviewed, the department said.
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However, given the four-month timeframe, it is highly unlikely that Pistorius will be freed before the prosecution’s appeal against his acquittal on murder charges is heard in November.
