South African former Paralympic star who was jailed for killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013 will be freed on 5 January 2024. According to South Africa’s correctional services department on Friday, 24th November 2023, South Africa’s parole board granted early release to Oscar Pistorius, after deeming him fit for social reintegration.
The 37-year-old was sentenced by a South African court in 2016 to serve 13 years and five months in prison, however, after serving eight and a half years in prison, and a further eight months under house arrest, will be getting his freedom on 5 January 2024.
Once released, He will be monitored by the authorities until his sentence officially expires "just like all other parolees", the Department of Correctional Services said on Friday. If he wants to move house or get a job during that time he will have to notify his parole officer.
Pistorius had initially bid for parole in March, but could not go through as he had not completed the minimum detention period, however, that was later ruled a mistake by South Africa's Constitutional Court, leading to the new parole hearing. Under South African law, all offenders are entitled to be considered for parole once they have served half their total sentence.
Pistorius shot Steenkamp, a law graduate and model, through a bathroom door in their shared home in Pretoria on 14th February 2013. In his defense, the former Paralympian claimed he thought there was an intruder in the bathroom when he opened fire.
Before Steenkamp’s murder, Pistorius was a national star feted for winning Paralympic medals and going on to become the first double amputee to race in the Olympics.
The killing made him infamous, and a long series of trials and appeals spurred international debate about gender-based violence and justice.
