Oscar Pistorius during his murder trial at the Pretoria High Court on 8 July 2014. Photo: Gallo Images/The Times /Alon Skuy
The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) parole board plans to convene a hearing to consider Oscar Pistorius for early release before the end of November.
This comes after the Constitutional Court last month confirmed Pistorius has been eligible for parole for more than six months after he served half of his sentence by 21 March. The DCS said they received an order from the apex court regarding the proper interpretation of the Supreme Court of Appeal’s (SCA) judgment delivered on 24 November 2017.
Pistorius’ lawyer, Conrad Dormehl, told The Citizen said he received a letter from DCS notifying him of the parole hearing.
“The letter arises from correspondence we’ve addressed to the Department of Correctional Services in which we enquire when they intend on convening a sitting for Oscar’s parole consideration.
“The gist of the content of the letter advises us that they have provided an opportunity for the victim’s parents to make submissions to the parole board, and that they will advise us of a date on which parole consideration will be heard, but that they intend doing so before the 30th of November 2023 this year,” Dormehl said.
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Dormehl said he is yet to speak to Pistorius about the letter, but doesn’t anticipate any opposition to Pistorius being granted parole.
Last month Reeva Steenkamp’s family lawyer Tania Koen told The Citizen the Steenkamp family’s view had always been that Pistorius has the same rights as any other offender.
“We’ve always said, and you will recall Barry’s words were always, the law must take its course and the law is taking its course. We agree with the decision of the Constitutional Court that he has served half the sentence because in our calculations he was eligible to be considered in March 2023.”
Pistorius is serving a 15-year prison sentence after he shot and killed his girlfriend, Reeva, in the early hours of Valentine’s Day 2013, opening fire on her while she was standing behind his closed bathroom door.
The Correctional Supervision and Parole Board (CSPB) denied the 36-year-old’s latest bid for freedom in March because it said he had not served the minimum amount of jail time required.
The Supreme Court of Appeal, which handed down his sentence, said he would only become eligible for parole in August 2024. But Pistorius insisted his second murder sentence should have been antedated to 6 July 2016, the day he started serving his first murder sentence.
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He then implored the Constitutional Court to address what he called the “utter confusion” surrounding his eligibility for parole.
“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,” Pistorius said.
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