Oscar Pistorius’ lawyer accuses Reeva Steenkamp’s parents of ‘frustrating’ parole bid – report

Convicted murderer and Paralympian Oscar Pistorius’ lawyer claims his bid to be released on early parole is apparently being “unfairly” stalled by the refusal of Reeva Steenkamp’s parents to meet him in person.

Pistorius’ lawyer, Julian Knight, has accused June and Barry Steenkamp of a “deliberate attempt to punish him and frustrate the process” in an interview with The Times newspaper.

Pistorius was sentenced to 13 years in prison for the murder of his then girlfriend on Valentine’s Day in 2013.

Steenkamp was shot and killed through the door of a locked bathroom cubicle inside Pistorius’ home in Silverlakes, east of Pretoria. He claimed he mistook her for an intruder on the night.

Pistorius has served half of his sentence and could soon be eligible for early release.

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In November last year, he was transferred to the St Albans Correctional Centre located closer to Steenkamp’s family in order to partake in the Department of Correctional Services’ victim-offender dialogue programme.

The process is almost at the last leg before an inmate’s profile could be taken before the parole board to consider if he/she is suitable for parole.

‘One delay after another’

Knight told The Times, in an article published on Friday, that his client had been met with “one delay after another”.

He claimed that Pistorius had a “squeaky clean prison record and meets all the requirements for parole”.

“The question can be asked whether this is being done to punish my client, to deliberately frustrate the parole process,” Knight was quoted as saying.

The Steenkamp family lawyer, Tania Koen, told the newspaper they were willing to participate in the victim-offender dialogue. But the family questioned whether Pistorius was eligible to be released on early parole.

In February last year, reports suggested that Pistorius would be eligible for parole in March 2023 after the Supreme Court of Appeal failed to account for “time served” when his charge was upgraded from culpable homicide to murder in 2017.

Pistorius was initially sentenced to six years in jail in 2016, but the sentence was later upgraded to 13 years after an appeal by the National Prosecuting Authority.

Compiled by Thapelo Lekabe. Additional reporting by Marizka Coetzer

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