Oscar Pistorius’ brother ‘heartbroken’ over new sentence
Oscar Pistorius’ brother, Carl could not hide his emotions after the former paralympian’s jail sentence was increased to 13 years by the Supreme Court of Appeal on Friday.
Carl Pistorius, brother of South African Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius, attends court proceedings at the High Court in Pretoria, South Africa, Tuesday, 4 March 2014. Picture: Kim Ludbrook/Pool
Taking to Twitter shortly after the judgement was handed down in Bloemfontein, Carl tweeted that he was heartbroken.
“Shattered. Heartbroken. Gutted. Are they serious? This is absolute nonsense,” Carl tweeted.
Oscar was initially sentenced to six years in prison for the 2013 murder of his then girlfriend and model, Reeva Steenkamp by Judge Thokozile Masipa in June last year.
The matter was brought by the state before the Supreme Court of Appeal where it was ruled on Friday that the initial sentence was “shockingly lenient”.
https://twitter.com/carlpistorius/status/933975703464366080
https://twitter.com/carlpistorius/status/934044978799611905
“The sentence of six years imprisonment is shockingly lenient to a point where it has the effect of trivialising this serious offence. The facts of this case demand the imposition of the minimum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment,” Judge Willie Seriti said.
Speaking to News24, Reeva’s parents, June and Barry said that they felt justice had been served but nothing would bring back their precious daughter.
“Nothing is going to bring Reeva back, so we can’t say we’re going forward. But what this means for us is justice for Reeva,” June told the publication.
She added that nothing could take away the pain they feel over Reeva’s death. “We feel the loss of her life every day and we mourn the fact that she’s not coming back to us,” June said.
The Supreme Court of Appeal’s judgement was handed down just days after Oscar celebrated his 31st birthday behind bars.
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