Oscar Pistorius Set to Test Freedom After 7 Years In Prison
On Valentine’s Day in 2013, he shot Ms. Steenkamp several times through a bathroom door. He then claimed he thought she was a burglar.
A South African court sentenced the now 37-year-old Pistorius to 13 years in jail in 2016.
His release date is scheduled for January 5, 2024 by the parole board.
Pistorius will be under surveillance by the government after his release until his term is officially over, “just like all other parolees,” the Department of Correctional Services announced on Friday.
A representative for the Steenkamp family said that he will also need to go to counseling sessions.
In a letter sent to the parole board ahead of the ruling, Ms Steenkamp’s mother said did not oppose his release but wondered whether Pistorius’s “huge anger issues” were truly dealt with in prison, adding she would potentially be “concerned for the safety of any woman” who now comes into contact with him.
June Steenkamp chose not to attend the parole hearing on Friday at Atteridgeville prison, near Pretoria, saying: “I simply cannot muster the energy to face him again at this stage.”
Her husband and Reeva’s father, Barry, died earlier this year and she said the strain on them both had been immense.
“My dear Barry left this world utterly devastated by the thought that he had failed to protect his daughter… I’ve no doubt that he died of a broken heart,” Mrs Steenkamp’s statement read.
Both of Ms Steenkamp‘s parents met Oscar Pistorius face-to-face last year as part of the rehabilitation process.
Mrs Steemkamp says that while she does not believe her daughter’s killer has shown remorse, she had nonetheless decided to forgive him “long ago, as I knew most certainly that I would not be able to survive if I had to cling to my anger.”
In less than a year, Pistorius has already had two parole hearings.
Because he had not served out the required minimum amount of time in jail, his initial request for release was denied in March.
The South African Constitutional Court subsequently declared that to be an error, which prompted Friday’s parole hearing.