![FILE - In this July 6, 2016 file photo, Oscar Pistorius (centre) arrives at the High Court in Pretoria, South Africa, for his sentencing hearing for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in her home. did.](https://sports.inquirer.net/files/2017/11/AP17328287327347.jpg)
FILE – In this July 6, 2016 file photo, Oscar Pistorius (center) attends High Court in Pretoria, South Africa, for his sentencing hearing for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in her home on Valentine’s Day 2013. Arriving at court. The sentence was increased to 13 years and 5 months in the High Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein on Friday, November 24, 2017. (AP Photo/Shiraz Mohamed, File)
Pretoria – South African former Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius He was released on parole on Friday, nearly 11 years after he killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in a crime that shocked a nation accustomed to violence against women.
Pistorius, nicknamed „Blade Runner“ for his carbon fiber prosthetic legs, shot and killed Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model, through a locked bathroom door on Valentine’s Day 2013.
He has repeatedly said he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder when he fired four shots into the bathroom of his Pretoria home, and has launched multiple appeals against his conviction on this basis.
In a statement shared Friday by the Steenkamp family’s attorney, Reba’s mother, June, said, „There can never be justice if the person you love will never come back, and no matter how much time you serve, Reba’s mother He is not coming back.“
„The rest of us are serving life sentences,“ June Steenkamp said, adding that her only wish was for Pistorius to be able to live in peace once he is released on parole.
Pistorius, now 37, spent about eight-and-a-half years in prison and another seven months under house arrest before being convicted of murder. The parole board in November decided he could be released after serving more than half of his sentence.
South Africa’s correctional service said in a brief statement that Pistorius was „effectively on parole from January 5, 2024“ and was now at home, without disclosing where.
Supervisors will monitor him until his sentence expires in December 2029, and Pistorius will be required to notify if he looks for a job opportunity or moves to a new address.
gender-based violence
![Private security guards outside Oscar Pistorius' uncle's home in the upscale Waterkloof suburb of Pretoria, South Africa, Friday, January 5, 2024. South African athlete Pistorius has been released on parole after serving nearly nine years in prison for murder. Girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day 2013](https://sports.inquirer.net/files/2024/01/AP24005345723743.jpg)
![Private security guards outside Oscar Pistorius' uncle's home in the upscale Waterkloof suburb of Pretoria, South Africa, Friday, January 5, 2024. South African athlete Pistorius has been released on parole after serving nearly nine years in prison for murder. Girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day 2013](https://sports.inquirer.net/files/2024/01/AP24005345723743.jpg)
Private security guards outside Oscar Pistorius’s uncle’s home in the upscale Waterkloof suburb of Pretoria, South Africa, Friday, January 5, 2024. South African athlete Pistorius has been released on parole after serving nearly nine years in prison for murder. Girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day 2013. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
As part of his parole conditions, Pistorius will also be required to continue anger management therapy and attend sessions on gender-based violence, the Steenkamp family said in a statement.
June Steenkamp said the conditions imposed by the parole board confirmed her belief in South Africa’s justice system, which sends a clear message that gender-based violence is taken seriously. .
But local women’s rights groups said the Pistorius case showed the country’s lack of accountability for perpetrators and insufficient justice for victims of violence.
„We’re talking about someone’s life taken…The fact that someone can walk out free eight years later tells us it’s not that big of a deal.“ Women for Women Change spokesperson Bulelwa Adonis told Reuters.
Mr Adonis said an average of 12 women are murdered every day in South Africa.
Some South Africans believe Pistorius‘ punishment was too lenient, while others feel he has served his sentence.
„Let’s send the man home. He’s done his job. Don’t forget, it’s also about reintegration into society,“ Pretoria resident Kefentse Botolo, 42, told Reuters. It is,” he said.
Local media expected Mr Pistorius to live in the house of his wealthy uncle Arnold on the outskirts of Pretoria, and a large crowd of reporters gathered at his door on Friday.
A Department of Corrections spokeswoman said Pistorius was dropped off in the morning at an „unknown entrance“, but did not specify the location.
His attorney did not immediately respond to messages and calls seeking comment.
From Paralympic stars to convicted murderers
Pistorius was once a darling of the sports world and a pioneer in the movement for disabled athletes to compete alongside able-bodied athletes in major sporting events.
In August 2012, a few months before he shot and killed his girlfriend, Pistorius became the first double amputee to compete at the London Olympics, reaching the semi-finals of the 400 meters.
He won two gold medals at the Paralympics.
He was first sentenced to five years in prison in October 2014. guilty murder by the High Court. The Supreme Court of Appeals convicted him of murder in December 2015 after prosecutors appealed the verdict. However, when he was sentenced in July 2016, he was given only six years in prison, even though prosecutors had argued for a minimum sentence of 15 years.
And in November 2017, the Supreme Court of Appeal more than doubled his sentence to 13 years and 5 months, calling his earlier term „surprisingly lenient.“
Pistorius met Reba’s father, Barry Steenkamp, in 2022 during a „victim-offender dialogue“ that is essential to South Africa’s restorative justice system.
Restorative justice is based in part on how indigenous cultures dealt with crime long before Europeans colonized South Africa, and is based in part on how indigenous cultures treated crime, rather than simply punishing the perpetrator. The purpose is to bring closure to those affected.