Could be up to four months before Pistorius knows review board’s decision
THE PAROLE Review Board has up to four months to conclude its decision on when Oscar Pistorius can be released from prison, a Justice Ministry spokesman said yesterday.
Paralympic gold medallist Pistorius, 28, was due to be released on house arrest today after serving 10 months of a five-year sentence for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day in 2013.
Justice Minister Michael Masutha, however, on Wednesday blocked his proposed release because he said the decision was made without legal basis, an intervention the Pistorius family said had left them “shocked and disappointed”.
Masutha said the parole board had wrongly taken a decision to release Pistorius on parole before the athlete had served a sixth of his sentence, as required by law.
“The review board has four months in which to conclude the matter,” Justice Ministry spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga said.
“The minister cannot determine how they deal with the review as he merely referred the matter, and leaves it to them to deal with it independently.”
A Pistorius family spokeswoman denied reports that the athlete’s family were planning to challenge the Justice Ministry’s intervention in court.
“No decisions have been taken, and the family will take their time to calmly consider the way forward,” Anneliese Burgess said in a statement.
Pistorius admitted killing Steenkamp by firing four shots through the locked door of a toilet cubicle at his house, saying he believed an intruder was hiding behind it.
Judge Thokozile Masipa said during sentencing the State had failed to convince her of Pistorius’s intent to kill when he fired.
Prosecutors filed an appeal this week asking for the verdict of culpable homicide, equivalent to manslaughter, changed to murder. They argue that Pistorius must have known when he fired that the person behind the door could be killed.
If convicted of murder, Pistorius would likely be given a custodial sentence of at least 15 years. The appeal hearing is due to start in November.
Pistorius, who had his lower legs amputated as a baby, was due on release to be mostly confined to the home of his uncle Arnold in Waterkloof, Pretoria.
Meanwhile, the Progressive Women’s Movement of SA yesterday welcomed the decision by the justice minister to suspend Pistorius’s parole.
“On the issues that happened (on Wednesday), we wanted to make it clear that it was a blessing in disguise that the minister could see our challenges as women,” PWMSA Gauteng co-convener Jacqui Mofokeng said.
“What Minister Masutha said showed that Pistorius had spe- cial treatment.
“We are not against Oscar getting (parole). We just want everyone to be treated fairly,” she added. – Reuters and ANA