Oscar Pistorius, a as soon as inspirational determine who gained worldwide fame as an Olympic sprinter for South Africa earlier than he was convicted of murdering his girlfriend, will likely be launched on parole, the authorities stated on Friday.
A parole board granted Mr. Pistorius’s petition on the premise that he had served half of his 15-year sentence he obtained for killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, at his dwelling a decade in the past, making him eligible for parole based on South African regulation.
The Division of Correctional Companies stated in a press release that Mr. Pistorius was a “first-time offender, with a positive support system” and due to this fact met the necessities for parole, after a listening to on the Atteridgeville Correctional Heart exterior South Africa’s administrative capital, Pretoria.
Earlier than his downfall, Mr. Pistorius was celebrated in South Africa and all over the world as an athlete who had overcome private adversity as a double amputee and fought for the appropriate to compete within the Olympics, incomes the nickname the Blade Runner for the carbon-fiber prosthetic blades that he used to race.
Mr. Pistorius, 37, will likely be launched on Jan. 5, the assertion stated.
In March, the board denied Mr. Pistorius’s parole primarily based on a technicality: The authorities had miscalculated whether or not he had served the minimal required interval of detention, the Division of Correctional Companies stated on the time.
The calculation was primarily based on a misunderstanding of when Mr. Pistorius’ sentence for homicide started. Mr. Pistorius was initially convicted of manslaughter, however prosecutors appealed, and his conviction was upgraded to homicide.
An appeals court docket elevated his sentence from six years to fifteen years in jail, the minimal really useful by South African regulation for unpremeditated homicide.
Mr. Pistorius’s legal professionals requested South Africa’s Constitutional Courtroom, the best decision-making physique within the nation, to rule on the parole matter. In October, the court docket dominated that Mr. Pistorius had served the minimal time period and ordered correctional providers to listen to his parole petition.
The authorized uncertainty remembers the complexities of Mr. Pistorius’s trial and eventual conviction for the killing of his girlfriend, Ms. Steenkamp, who was 29 on the time. Mr. Pistorius shot Ms. Steenkamp, a mannequin, by means of a locked rest room door within the predawn hours of Feb. 14 in 2013.
He maintained that her death was an accident and that he had fired his gun within the perception that an intruder had entered his upscale dwelling in a Pretoria safety property.
Prosecutors argued that Mr. Pistorius had killed Ms. Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day in a jealous rage after an argument. Throughout the trial, they pointed to textual content messages during which Ms. Steenkamp stated she was afraid of Mr. Pistorius’ mood as proof of a risky relationship between the couple.
As a part of the parole-consideration course of, the board heard from Ms. Steenkamp’s mom, June Steenkamp. Throughout the March listening to, the Steenkamp household lobbied in opposition to Mr. Pistorius’s bid for freedom.
June Steenkamp didn’t attend the listening to, nor did she oppose parole for Mr. Pistorius, however she did query whether or not he had been rehabilitated. In a press release, she recalled proof of Mr. Pistorius’s mood, together with the textual content messages and testimonies from former companions.
“I do not know to what extent his bad behavior still exists or were evident during his time of incarceration,’’ she said in a statement, read by Rob Matthews, a family friend whose daughter was also murdered by a partner, “but I’m concerned for the safety of any woman should this not have been addressed in his rehabilitation process.”
Ms. Steenkamp’s father, Barry Steenkamp, died in September at 80. In media interviews earlier than his loss of life, Mr. Steenkamp maintained that Mr. Pistorius had intentionally shot his daughter.
Mr. Pistorius had been celebrated as an inspirational determine. He was born and not using a fibula in both of his legs, the bone that runs between the knee and ankle, beside the tibia. His legs have been amputated earlier than his first birthday, and earlier than his second birthday, he was strolling on prosthetics.
By age 17, Mr. Pistorius had won gold medals within the 2004 Summer season Paralympics in Athens. Regardless of continued wins within the Paralympics video games, Mr. Pistorius was decided to compete in opposition to able-bodied athletes.
The world athletic physique, the I.A.A.F., rejected his bid to compete within the 2008 Beijing Olympics, however, after successful an attraction, he later certified for and was allowed to compete within the London Video games.
He ran the 400 meters on the 2012 Olympics in London, turning into the primary double amputee to compete within the Olympic Video games. The truth that he didn’t win any medals did little to decrease his international profile.
His success on the monitor additionally introduced wealth and a level of infamy: He earned greater than $1 million in endorsements with main manufacturers and made headlines for crashing his boat in 2008 and for his extravagant style in pets (two African white tigers).
He additionally earned a spot on People Magazine’s sexiest athletes record, whereas he and Ms. Steenkamp commonly walked the crimson carpet in South Africa.
