Oscar Pistorius to be freed on parole after decade in jail

Transcript

00:00 South African former Paralympian Oscar Pistorius is set to be freed from jail after being granted

00:05 parole. Pistorius was jailed for shooting and killing his girlfriend Riva Steenkamp

00:10 at home in Pretoria on Valentine's Day 2013. The once hero, known as the 'Blade Runner'

00:16 for his carbon fibre prosthetic legs, will be released on January 5th.

00:21 After hearings that caught the world's attention a decade ago, Pistorius was initially jailed

00:25 for five years in 2014 for culpable homicide by a high court. But in late 2015, the Supreme

00:32 Court of Appeal found him guilty of murder after an appeal by prosecutors. He was sent

00:38 back to jail for six years, less than half the minimum term sought by prosecutors. Then

00:43 in 2017, the Supreme Court more than doubled his sentence to 13 years and five months,

00:49 saying the term originally handed down was 'shockingly lenient'.

00:53 The Steenkamp family did not attend Friday's hearing, although spokesperson Rob Matthews

00:58 read out a message from Riva's mother detailing the toll the murder had had on the family.

01:03 I'm not attending Oscar's parole hearing as I simply cannot muster the energy to face

01:11 him again at this stage. Barry's demise has opened up the wounds in many ways caused by

01:21 Riva's death. I had forgiven Oscar long ago as I knew most certainly that I would not

01:30 be able to survive if I had to cling to my anger. I do not believe Oscar's version that

01:39 he thought the person in the toilet was a burglar. In fact, I don't know anybody else

01:44 who does.

01:45 I'll go and collect.