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South Africa to appeal Pistorius murder sentence again

Pistorius was sentenced to six years in prison after being found guilty of murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on appeal last December.

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Prosecutors in South Africa said Thursday they would launch a new legal push for a tougher sentence for Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius, who was jailed for six years for murdering his girlfriend. It overturned Masipa’s verdict and changed it to murder.

The jail term was less than half of the 15 years term prosecutors sought for the shooting in 2013 but so far appeals to challenge it have been turned down.

She was 29 when she died.

“Today [Thursday] they filed papers in the High Court in Pretoria as a matter of formality and tomorrow they will be filing them in the Appeal’s Court”, NPA spokesperson Luvuyo Mfaku said.

The prosecution is directly petitioning the Supreme Court of Appeal following last month’s rejection by the High Court of their application for permission to appeal.

He claimed he fired the four shots through the door of the toilet in the bathroom adjoining his bedroom believing that there was an intruder inside, and that his life and that of Steenkamp’s were in danger.

The culpable homicide conviction was set aside by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) and replaced with one of murder in December 2015.

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‘I am not persuaded that there are reasonable prospects of success for an appeal, ‘ she said in the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg.

Olympic and Paralympic track star Oscar Pistorius leaves court after appearing for the 2013 killing of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp