- Title: ATHLETICS-PISTORIUS/SPORTS PROFILE Pistorius set to be released on parole
- Date: 17th August 2015
- Summary: LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM (MAY 23, 2011) (REUTERS) PISTORIUS ARRIVING AT 2012 OLYMPIC STADIUM CLOSE UP OF PISTORIUS PISTORIUS IN STARTING BLOCKS POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS PISTORIUS SITTING IN STADIUM SEATS
- Embargoed: 1st September 2015 13:00
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- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA5X5QYUFHQ3BWOKUKRHFBZH4I3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: South African athlete Oscar Pistorius will be released on parole on Friday (August 21) after serving 10 months of a five-year sentence for culpable homicide of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
The Olympic and Paralympic track star is behind bars in the capital, Pretoria, after being convicted in October after a seven-month trial.
The release of Pistorius, whose lower legs were amputated when he was a baby, had been largely expected under South African sentencing guidelines that say non-dangerous prisoners should spend only one-sixth of a custodial sentence behind bars.
A prison service statement said Pistorius would spend the remainder of his time under "correctional supervision", a form of house arrest.
Steenkamp, a 29-year-old law graduate and model, died on Valentine's Day in 2013 when Pistorius shot her through a locked toilet door at his luxury Pretoria home.
Prosecutors had pushed for a murder conviction, but the athlete maintained he fired in the mistaken belief an intruder was hiding behind the door, a defense that struck home with many in a country with one of the world's highest rates of violent crime.
The state won its bid to appeal the culpable homicide conviction and will seek a murder conviction when the case is heard in November.
Pistorius could face a prison sentence of at least 15 years if convicted of murder. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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