Paralympic champion remains in prison
The former South African Paralympic champion, Oscar Pistorius, convicted of the murder of his partner Reeva Steenkamp ten years ago, will remain in prison after a parole board rejected his request for early release.
The prison services reported in a statement that the denial is related to the fact that the convict has not yet served a sufficient portion of his sentence.
"The reason they gave is that the detainee has not completed the minimum detention period, as decided by the Supreme Court of Appeal," the statement says.
"The request has been denied" and "will be reviewed in a year," said Tania Koen, the lawyer for the victim's family, to AFP.
A parole board met at the Atteridgeville prison, near Pretoria, where the 36-year-old athlete is serving a sentence of over thirteen years.
South African law states that a person convicted of murder can obtain early release once half of their sentence has been served.
The parents of Reeva Steenkamp had expressed their opposition to his early release, considering that Oscar Pistorius never told the truth.
"I do not believe in his story," said the visibly distressed mother, June Steenkamp, to the reporters gathered around the car in which she arrived at the prison to attend the parole hearing.
The mother ultimately did not have to testify against her daughter's killer by the commission's decision, said her lawyer Tania Koen.
The victim's parents have been living in a "life sentence" since the violent death of their daughter, said Koen. "They miss her every day," she added.
"They believe he should not be released" because "he has not shown remorse and is not rehabilitated, because if he were, he would have been honest and would have told the true story of what happened that night," she insisted.
The parole board had to officially examine whether "the objective of imprisonment" had been fulfilled, explained the prison administration. The detainee's behavior, physical and mental state, and the risk of recurrence were also examined.
A fallen idol
The case dates back ten years. In the early hours of Valentine's Day, February 14, 2013, Pistorius shot through the bathroom door of his room with a rifle.
The 29-year-old model, Reeva Steenkamp, who had come to spend the night at his house in Pretoria, was shot four times.
The six-time Paralympic champion, rich and famous, had entered the sports legend a year earlier by competing with able-bodied athletes in the 400 meters at the London Olympics, something unprecedented for a double amputee.
"Blade Runner," his nickname referring to his carbon prosthesis shaped like feline legs, was arrested early in the morning. According to him, it was a mistake and he explained that he believed a thief had managed to break into his residence, which had significant security measures.
During his trial in the first instance, broadcast live on television for eight months in 2014, Pistorius appeared crying and even vomited when the autopsy report was read. He was sentenced to five years in prison for manslaughter.
But the prosecution considered the sentence too lenient and appealed to demand a murder conviction.
The legal saga kept the media in suspense, and the world became passionate about the case.
During the appeal trial, Pistorius appeared before the judges showing his stumps. A defense psychologist described him then as a "broken" man. He was sentenced to six years in prison for murder.
But the prosecution still considered the sentence insufficient, and in 2017 the Supreme Court of Appeal sentenced him to 13 years and 5 months in prison.
Abandoned by his sponsors and ruined, the fallen idol was forced to sell his house to pay his lawyers. AFP