Aug 14, 2015
When he's freed next week, Pistorius will have served 304 days for shooting dead his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp
Despite Oscar Pistorius's disability he grew up playing a wide range of able-bodied sports. Born in Johannesburg in 1986 with a congenital absence of the fibula, he had both legs amputated just below the knee when he was 11 months old. Rugby had been his sport of choice until 2003, when a serious injury intervened. He was introduced to athletics during his rehabilitation and achieved major successes in South Africa. Pistorius first achieved global fame during the 2004 Athens Paralympics, where he broke the world record for the 200 metres – beating single amputee competitors in the process – and claiming the moniker “the fastest man on no legs”.
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Page 1 of 3Oscar Pistorius to be released from prison 'wearing tag'
Former Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius is to be released next week after spending ten months in jail for shooting dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, a model.
According to the Daily Mail, Pistorius will be released next Friday under "corrective supervision" wearing an electronic tag. The paper also says that his family is not planning a big celebration to mark his freedom.
See related
Why wasn't Oscar Pistorius convicted of murder?
Reeva Steenkamp: the life and death of a rising star
Oscar Pistorius no longer on the run: an analyst's view
Pistorius, who shot Steenkamp dead through a closed bathroom door on Valentine's Day in 2013, has been recommended as a good candidate for corrective supervision, which is new in South Africa. The athlete said that he had mistaken Steenkamp for an intruder.
One of the issues still to be resolved, says the Mail, is where Pistorius, whose legs were amputated below the knee when he was a baby, will wear his tag. They are usually placed around the ankle.
It is expected that Pistorius will have to carry out some sort of community service for two days of each month as part of the terms of his release. His lawyer says he has expressed an interest in working with children.
The 28-year-old received a five-year sentence for manslaughter and will have served 304 days, spending much of that time in the hospital wing of Kgosi Mampuru jail, Pretoria.
While many have expressed outrage that he has spent less than a year in jail, Kelly Phelps, a senior lecturer in criminal justice at the University of Cape Town, insists he has not been given a "get-out-of-jail-free" card. "Punishment is not terminated but instead meted out in the community rather than in prison," she says.
An offender sentenced to correctional supervision remains under the control of the Department of Correctional Services until the sentence expires. The conditions of his release are yet to be made public, but they typically include a daily period of house arrest, compulsory treatment programmes, abstinence from alcohol or drugs and community service. Offenders may also be given regular support sessions with social workers.
Pistorius is expected to be released to the "comfortable home" of his wealthy uncle, says the Mail.
He will not be able to compete as an athlete but is expected to do some sort of limited training. The Mail claims he may not be in good shape as he has been refusing prison food for fear of being poisoned and is instead eating tinned food from the prison shop.
But Pistorius's release may be short-lived: the state launched an appeal in November against Pistorius's acquittal on murder charges and legal experts believe it could well succeed.
If he is found guilty of murder by appeal judges he will serve at least 15 years in jail.
Pistorius to be freed: what happens next?
Will Pistorius carry out community service?
Ahead of sentencing last year, Pistorius's defence lawyers argued that he should serve a community-based sentence, such as 16 hours of domestic cleaning a month. Annette Vergeer, a probation officer who acted as a witness in Pistorius's sentencing hearing, suggested he could even work with disabled children. She went into detail about a Gateway programme that helps children in other countries such as Mozambique. However, offenders are typically banned from leaving their ministerial district let alone the country.
One of Pistorius's lawyers told The Sunday Times in May that his client is still interested in working with children when he is released from prison. Rohan Kruger, who works on the defence team with lead counsel Barry Roux, told the newspaper: "Oscar is keen to become involved in assisting children in whatever opportunity will present."
Will Pistorius return to athletics?
According to South Africa's Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, correctional supervision aims to provide a means of rehabilitation within the community and allows – even encourages – the offender to be employed. The International Paralympic Committee has said Pistorius, known as the Blade Runner, could resume his career once he has served his sentence and the South African Olympic Committee has confirmed that it has no regulations barring athletes with a criminal record. Last year, his agent Peet van Zyl told The Guardian that they would "sit down and take stock" after the sentencing hearing.
Where will Pistorius live?
The Daily Telegraph's Aislinn Laing, who reported on much of the murder trial, suggests Pistorius is likely to live under "virtual house arrest" at his uncle's home in the Waterkloof suburb of Pretoria. "He may also be told to continue to have mental health checks after a psychiatric evaluation before he was sentenced found him to be suffering from serious depression and post-traumatic stress disorder and a suicide risk," says Laing.
However, she points out that his relative freedom could be "short-lived" if prosecutors are able to persuade the Supreme Court of Appeal in November that his verdict should be upgraded to murder, a conviction that carries a minimum of 15 years in prison.
Oscar Pistorius: is ten months in jail enough for taking a life?
9 June
Oscar Pistorius's anticipated early release from prison has been described as a "slap in the face" for the grieving parents of Reeva Steenkamp.
The athlete, who was sentenced to five years in jail in October last year, is likely to be freed on 21 August after serving just ten months for shooting his girlfriend through a locked toilet door on Valentine's Day in 2013. He is expected to be released and placed under house arrest following a recommendation from South Africa's correctional services department, reports the BBC.
In a letter to the parole board, Reeva's parents said they had forgiven Pistorius but insisted that "incarceration of ten months for taking a life is simply not enough". They added that his release would not send out the "proper message" nor "serve as the deterrent it should".
Commentators from across the world have expressed a similar view. Writing in the Herald Sun, Wendy Tuohy, says the "obscenely" early release "cannot be called justice". Describing it as a "slap in the face" for Reeva's grieving parents, she adds: "You wonder if fame and connections count for more than a woman's life."
In The Guardian, Joan Smith claims the early release "speaks volumes" about attitudes towards male violence in South Africa. "In a country where gender inequality is entrenched, this is how easy it is for a well-known man to usurp the role of victim," she writes.
But South Africa's Daily Maverick newspaper says that "procedurally, there is nothing untoward about Pistorius spending only ten months of this sentence behind bars". This course of events was "virtually guaranteed" from the moment Judge Thokozile Masipa sentenced the athlete to five years in jail for culpable homicide, says the newspaper.
The country's Criminal Procedure Act and the Correctional Services Act allows for an offender to serve "only one sixth of his/her sentence in custody" when the sentence does not exceed five years.
Diane Bass, a criminal defence attorney in Los Angeles, told CBS News: "I don't think this is anything to do with his celebrity status. It has to do with the fact that the parole boards says that he has been behaving well and unless anything changes they are the ones recommending that he be released after ten months."
Nevertheless, Pistorius could find himself back behind bars for a minimum of 15 years if prosecutors win their appeal to escalate his conviction from culpable homicide to murder. They are expected to have their case heard in South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal in November. The state has until 17 August to submit court papers outlining its argument. Then Pistorius's defence team has until 17 September to submit a response.
Last September, Masipa ruled that the prosecution had not provided enough evidence to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Pistorius foresaw that he might kill somebody when he fired four shots into his toilet door. Therefore, Pistorius was cleared of murder and convicted on the lesser charge of culpable homicide.
However, the prosecution team – led by Gerrie Nel – claimed Masipa had "erred" on the conviction and described the sentence as "shockingly light".
Description :
As arguably South Africa's most famous sportsman, interest in Pistorius' private affairs heightened. In November 2012, Oscar Pistorius and Reeva Steenkamp began dating. Reeva was a leading South African model and had been working as a paralegal. Their relationship was described as "healthy and fabulous" by her publicist and they were inevitably termed "South Africa's Posh and Becks".
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Oscar Pistorius 'likely to be freed as early as 21 August'
8 June
Oscar Pistorius is likely to be freed on 21 August after serving just ten months for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, according to reports.
Pistorius was convicted of culpable homicide last September after shooting his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp four times through a locked toilet door on Valentine's Day in 2013.
He was sentenced to five years in October last year, but is expected to be released on house arrest as early as 21 August following a recommendation from South Africa's correctional services department, reports the BBC.
One of his family members, who did not want to be named, said: "Oscar will be released on parole by the end of August."
Prosecutors, who have launched an appeal to escalate the conviction from culpable homicide to the more serious charge of murder, are expected to have their case heard in South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal in November.
The state has until 17 August to submit court papers outlining its argument. Then Pistorius's defence team has until 17 September to submit a response.
Last September, Masipa ruled that the prosecution had not provided enough evidence to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Pistorius foresaw that he might kill somebody when he fired four shots into his toilet door. Therefore, Pistorius was cleared of murder and convicted on the lesser charge of culpable homicide.
However, the prosecution team – led by Gerrie Nel – claimed Masipa had "erred" on the conviction and described the sentence as "shockingly light".
http://www.theweek.co.uk/oscar-pistorius/53387/oscar-pistorius-what-will-he-do-when-he-gets-out-of-jail