South African athlete Oscar Pistorius has been released from prison on parole and is now at home, South Africa’s Department of Corrections said on Friday.
The department gave no more details of Pistorius’ release. The announcement came at around 8.30am, indicating corrections officials had released the world-famous double-amputee Olympic runner from the Atteridgeville Correctional Center in the South African capital, Pretoria, in the early hours.
Pistorius has served nearly nine years of his 13 years and five months murder sentence for killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day in 2013.
He was approved for parole in November last year.
Serious offenders in South Africa are eligible for parole after serving at least half their sentence.
The Department of Corrections said in a two-sentence statement announcing Pistorius’ release that it was “able to confirm that Oscar Pistorius is a parolee, effectively from 5 January 2024. He was admitted into the system of Community Corrections and is now at home”.
Pistorius was expected to initially live at his uncle’s mansion in the upscale Waterkloof suburb of Pretoria, and a police van was seen parked outside that house.
Department of Corrections officials had said Pistorius’ release time would not be announced in advance and he would not be “paraded” because they hoped to keep him away from the media glare that has trailed him since he shot Steenkamp multiple times through a toilet door at his home in the pre-dawn hours of February 14, 2013.
He will live under strict parole conditions until the remainder of his sentence expires in December 2029.
Steenkamp’s mother, June Steenkamp, said in a statement earlier on Friday that she had accepted Pistorius’ parole as part of South African law. “Has there been justice for Reeva? Has Oscar served enough time? There can never be justice if your loved one is never coming back, and no amount of time served will bring Reeva back,” June said. “We who remain behind are the ones serving a life sentence.”
Some of Pistorius’ parole conditions include restrictions on when he’s allowed to leave his home, a ban on consuming alcohol, and orders that he must attend programmes on anger management and violence against women.
Pistorius has maintained that he shot Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model and law graduate, by mistake. He testified that he believed Steenkamp was a dangerous intruder hiding in his bathroom and shot through the door with his licensed 9mm pistol in self-defence. But prosecutors said he killed his girlfriend intentionally during a late-night argument.
Before the killing, Pistorius was held up as an inspiring role model after having had both of his legs amputated below the knee as a baby because of a congenital condition. He made history by competing at the 2012 London Olympics.
