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Former paralympic star Oscar Pistorius has been denied bail as he made a bid for freedom a decade after killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
South Africa’s jail authorities and a lawyer for the sufferer’s household confirmed the result.
Nevertheless embarrassed parole board officers admitted that Pistorius was not really eligible for parole.
The BBC stories that the parole listening to ought to by no means have gone forward as a result of South Africa’s high appeals court docket mentioned Pistorius wanted to spend one other yr and a half in jail.
The confusion reportedly occurred as a result of the time he has been in jail has been damaged up by appeals and by a interval of home arrest.
The Division of Correctional Companies mentioned in an announcement that Pistorius, aged 36, had not accomplished the minimal detention interval required to be thought of for parole.
“Come August 2024, he would have reached the minimal detention interval, then the (parole) board will decide,” jail spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo informed a media briefing.
“He must seem once more subsequent yr. After which we glance into the profile and decide when it comes to his placement.
“However for now, it was a matter of claiming he has not served the minimal detention interval.”
Pistorius was jailed in 2016, initially for a six-year time period, however the sentence was elevated to 13 years after an attraction by prosecutors who argued it was too lenient.
As soon as the darling of the Paralympic motion for pushing for better recognition and acceptance of disabled athletes, Pistorius shot useless Steenkamp, ​​a mannequin and legislation pupil, in his toilet on February 14 — Valentine’s Day — in 2013.
The athlete, referred to as “Blade Runner” for his carbon-fibre prosthetic legs, went from public hero to convicted assassin in a trial that drew worldwide curiosity.
Steenkamp’s household had opposed the bid, their lawyer Tania Koen informed Reuters.
“I’ve simply obtained a name from the parole board. It’s a enormous sense of aid for June,” she mentioned, referring to Reeva’s mom.
June Steenkamp had earlier mentioned she was feeling nervous as she arrived at Atteridgeville jail close to the capital Pretoria for the closed-door listening to.
“Whereas we welcome right this moment’s choice, right this moment will not be a trigger for celebration,” Koen mentioned on behalf of Reeva’s mother and father.
“We miss Reeva terribly and can accomplish that for the remainder of our lives. We consider in justice and hope that it continues to prevail.”
Pistorius’ lawyer, Julian Knight, earlier informed Reuters that Pistorius was attributable to seem earlier than the parole board to reply questions based mostly on Knight’s written submission arguing for his shopper’s launch.
Mr Knight had mentioned he didn’t anticipate a call on Friday.
He was not out there to remark after Pistorius was denied parole.
The premise for his argument for Pistorius’ parole consideration was that “there does not appear to be any detrimental elements precluding his being launched on parole as a result of he meets the necessities of the division when it comes to their insurance policies and procedures”.
A gun fanatic, Pistorius informed his trial that he had believed Steenkamp was an intruder when he shot her a number of occasions by the lavatory door with ammunition designed to inflict most harm to the human physique.
Pistorius shuffled by the Pretoria court docket with out his prosthetics to point out how weak he was confronted with the specter of an intruder.
The athlete broke down crying as he informed the court docket that he had been making an attempt to guard Steenkamp when he fired the pictures.
The prosecutor on the time accused him of utilizing emotional breakdowns to keep away from questioning.
He met Steenkamp’s father Barry final yr when taking part in a course of referred to as victim-offender dialogue — a part of South Africa’s restorative justice program that brings events affected by against the law collectively in a bid to attain closure.
