South Africa’s Pistorius sues for right to parole hearing

The well-known athlete was discovered responsible of homicide of his girlfriend and began serving his 13-year sentence in 2014.

Photographers take photographs of Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius as he seems at a bail listening to for the capturing demise of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, in Pretoria, South Africa, Friday, Feb 20, 2013. (Themba Hadebe/AP Picture) (AP Picture)

South African Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius, who was jailed for 13 years for murdering his girlfriend, has requested the courts to power jail authorities to contemplate him for parole.

His lawyer Julian Knight advised AFP on Wednesday that the athlete was searching for an order to power authorities to carry a parole listening to.

“It’s an utility to compel the parole board to convene a listening to for his consideration for parole,” mentioned Knight.

Pistorius, 35, shot useless Reeva Steenkamp, a mannequin, whereas she was in the bathroom within the early hours of Valentine’s Day in 2013. He mentioned he thought a burglar was hiding in his en-suite toilet when he fired 4 occasions via the door.

He was discovered responsible of homicide and began serving his sentence in 2014.

Knight mentioned the applying “doesn’t imply he have to be positioned on parole, however that he have to be thought-about”, he mentioned.

No listening to date has been set but, he mentioned, refusing to provide additional particulars.

To be thought-about for parole in South Africa, an offender should first serve half their time period.

In July, the Division of Correctional Providers confirmed that a assembly had taken place the earlier month between Pistorius and Steenkamp’s mother and father.

The encounter was a part of Pistorius’s rehabilitation, one thing that can also be a requirement to have the ability to apply for parole.

In 2015, the decrease Supreme Court docket of Enchantment upgraded the 29-year-old’s conviction to homicide in December from a previous conviction of culpable murder within the Pretoria Excessive Court docket. He had been sentenced to 5 years in jail for culpable murder.

A 12 months later, the Constitutional Court docket, South Africa’s apex court docket, rejected his try to attraction the sentence.

Recognized worldwide because the “Blade Runner” due to his carbon-fibre prosthetics, Pistorius grew to become the primary double-amputee to race on the Olympics when he competed on the London 2012 video games, a 12 months earlier than he shot Steenkamp.