Oscar Pistorius implores ConCourt to clarify his eligibility for parole

Convicted murderer and paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius has implored the Constitutional Court to address what he called the “utter confusion” surrounding his eligibility for parole.

This comes after the 36-year-old Pistorius’ latest bid for freedom was denied earlier this year.

He is now seeking to overturn the decision to deny him parole, arguing the time he has spent behind bars already means he is eligible for an early release from prison.

Confusion

Pistorius said the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has created “utter confusion” about when his murder sentence came into effect – and declare that he is, in fact, eligible for parole.

“It goes without saying that the confusion is to be determined finally as a matter of relative urgency,” Pistorius stated in papers filed at the apex court earlier this month, according to News24.

“Every day that I am detained and prohibited from applying for parole, in circumstances that I am already eligible for parole and might be successful to obtain parole, constitutes an infringement on my fundamental rights,” he added.

Pistorius was denied parole by the Correctional Supervision and Parole Board (CSPB) in March 2023 because he had not served the minimum amount of jail time required.

“The CSPB granted inmate Pistorius a further profile for August 2024. The reason provided is that the inmate did not complete the minimum detention period as ruled by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) – as per the clarification provided on 28 March 2023.”

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Prison sentence

Pistorius is currently serving a 15-year prison sentence after he shot and killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine’s Day 2013, after opening fire on her while she was standing behind his closed bathroom door.

He pleaded not guilty to murder and has constantly maintained he thought Reeva was an intruder.

Pistorius was initially sentenced to six years in jail in 2016 by North Gauteng High Court Judge Thokozile Masipa.

Murder

That sentence was later overturned by the SCA in 2017 and increased to an effective 13 years and five months.

The SCA found that, even if Pistorius believed that he was shooting at an intruder when he fired multiple shots into his bathroom door, he must have reasonably foreseen that whoever was behind that door would die.

And as such, it said, he was guilty of murder under the principle of dolus eventualis.

According to News24, Pistorius insists his second murder sentence should have been antedated to 6 July 2016, the day that he had started serving his first murder sentence.

He says if this is considered, he should have become eligible for parole in March, but this was denied by parole authorities.

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