Oscar Pistorius will be released from prison for good behavior on Aug. 21 and go under house arrest after serving just 10 months for killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, South Africa’s department of corrections said on Monday.
“He’s behaving himself very well,” Acting National Commissioner of Correctional Services Zach Modise said. “He hasn’t given us any problems.”
Yet three months after he leaves Kgosi Mampuru II prison in Pretoria, likely for the comfort of his uncle’s mansion, the double-amputee Olympic athlete will again face the possibility of a murder conviction and could be sent back to jail — this time for a minimum of 15 years.
Pistorius was acquitted of murder and found guilty of the lesser charge of culpable homicide, or manslaughter, last year for shooting Steenkamp through a toilet door in his home.
Pistorius’ impending release after serving one-sixth of his five-year jail term for manslaughter is in line with South African law. But it was sharply criticized by family members of Steenkamp, the 29-year-old model and reality TV star shot multiple times by Pistorius in the pre-dawn hours of Feb. 14, 2013.
“Incarceration of 10 months for taking a life is simply not enough,” Steenkamp’s family said in a written statement to the parole board that met on Friday and approved Pistorius’ release under correctional supervision, or house arrest.
Steenkamp’s family members were invited to attend Pistorius’ parole hearing but did not. Instead, they sent the written submission, Steenkamp family lawyer Tania Koen said.
“We have forgiven Mr. Pistorius even though he took the life of our precious daughter, Reeva.” the family wrote in its submission. “We do not seek to avenge her death and we do not want Mr. Pistorius to suffer; that will not bring her back to us.
However a person found guilty of a crime must be held accountable for their actions.”
Modise, the Correctional Services head, noted that Pistorius could still be denied release if his good behavior does not continue in jail. If he is released Aug. 21, it would be exactly 10 months since he was sentenced following a dramatic seven-month trial last year. The world-famous athlete will have served the minimum amount of jail time his sentence required.
Pistorius will still be given “strict conditions” while under house arrest, Correctional Services head Modise said. But Pistorius, the first amputee to run at the Olympics, could be allowed to begin track training again, Modise said. The exact conditions of Pistorius’ house arrest wouldn’t be made public, the department said.
Court sets Nov Date for appeal
Oscar Pistorius’ case will go in front of South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal in November, the court said Monday, when prosecutors will challenge the decision to acquit him of murder for shooting girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
Pistorius would again face the possibility of a murder conviction and a minimum of 15 years in prison if a panel of judges at the Supreme Court of Appeal overturns the original decision in his murder trial.
The court has not yet set an exact date for the appeal, court registrar Paul Myburgh said, but it will be in November. That will be three months afterPistorius is eligible for release from prison to serve the remainder of his current sentence, for a culpable homicide conviction, under house arrest.