Cape Town — Oscar Pistorius could soon be a free man as his parole hearing is set to take place next week, after serving half of his 13-year sentence.
Pistorius infamously shot and killed his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on 14 February 2013, after claiming he thought she was an intruder. He was sentenced to 13 and a half years in jail after his culpable homicide charge was overturned to a murder charge in 2016.
He was denied his parole in March this year when he tried to be released early, but The Department of Correctional Services said a parole board found Pistorius had not completed the minimum detention period required to be let out.
The Constitutional Court recently ruled that his sentence should be backdated to July 6 2016, pushing forward his eligibility for parole, TimesLIVE reported. Pistorius’ lawyer Conrad Dormehl confirmed that the parole hearing will be heard next week on Friday.
“The hearing will be on November 24. We are obviously glad it’s come to the fore and happy we have a date for parole consideration. As for the process itself, I cannot say much. We are still in the process of making submissions and not sure how the parole board is dealing with it,” he said.
The Department of Correctional Services’ parole board is expected to convene next week Friday to consider the possibility of placing Oscar Pistorius on parole.#JacaDrive https://t.co/N8h5uPMkpW
— The Drive with Rob and Roz (@JacaDrive) November 18, 2023
Dormehl said it is uncertain when Pistorius will finally be a free man as the process is dictated by the department of correctional services.
Correctional services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said the department will make an announcement once the sitting is confirmed.
“The department will issue an alert the moment the parole board confirms the sitting date,” he said.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
