Less than a year into a five-year sentence for culpable homicide in the shooting death of his girlfriend, South African runner and double amputee Oscar Pistorius has been recommended for parole and may be released as soon as August, reports say.
A South African court sentenced the 28-year-old Paralympics athlete to five years in prison in October of 2014 for the culpable homicide shooting of Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day 2013.
On Monday the Acting National Commissioner of Correctional Services, Mr Zach Modise, confirmed via a statement that the Correctional Supervision and Parole Board (CSPB) of Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Centre decided on June 5 to approve the placement of Oscar Pistorius under correctional supervision starting on 21 August.
“The CSPB has approved that Pistorius be placed under correctional supervision,” the statement read, “as a probationer, in line with Section 276 (1) (i) of the Criminal Procedure Act, read together with the Correctional Services Act, Act 111 of 1998, as amended that says an offender may serve only one sixth of his/her sentence in custody, and continue to serve the remaining period of the sentence under correctional supervision.”
The statement also says that the victim’s family was given a chance to have their say on the pending parole and that they participated in the proceedings.
Pistorius’ brother said that during the runner’s short stint in prison he had not been given any special treatment and spent 17 hours a day locked in his cell with only one hour of outdoor exercise and one hour of weight-room exercise daily.
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