Pistorius freed after serving 9 years
Olympic sprinter fatally shot girlfriend
• Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius, a double-amputee who became a global star competing at his sport’s highest level while running on carbon-fibre blades, was released from prison on Friday after serving nearly nine years for killing his girlfriend, the model Reeva Steenkamp.
Pistorius, 37, was released early Friday from the Atteridgeville Correctional Center in Pretoria and processed at a parole office before being released to his family, Department of Corrections spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo told The Associated Press. Nxumalo, who referred to Pistorius’ release as an “operation” designed to avoid a media scramble, declined to give further details.
“I can only tell you he was released this morning,” Nxumalo said.
Pistorius served nearly nine years of his murder sentence of 13 years and five months for the fatal shooting of Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day 2013. He became eligible for early release having served at least half his sentence, and then was approved for parole in November.
Pistorius was expected to initially live at his uncle’s home in the upscale Pretoria suburb of Waterkloof after his release. He lived there during his seven-month trial in 2014.
A police van was outside that house and a police officer was seen coming out later Friday. The officer declined to comment to reporters. Three black private security vehicles were also parked in front of the mansion.
The Department of Corrections said ahead of Pistorius’ release that it would not publicize his parole time and he was not going to be “paraded” for the media that has trailed him since he shot Steenkamp multiple times through a bathroom door at his Pretoria villa more than a decade ago.
Pistorius will live under strict parole conditions until the remainder of his murder sentence expires in December 2029.
Steenkamp’s mother, June Steenkamp, said in a statement that she had accepted Pistorius’ parole, although the pain of her daughter’s death was “still raw and real.”
Steenkamp’s father, Barry Steenkamp, died last year.