Jailed S.African Paralympian Pistorius could get parole: Official

By Hassan Isilow

JOHANNESBURG (AA) - Former South African Paralympian Oscar Pistorius, now serving a sentence for the 2013 murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, could soon be eligible for parole, a correctional official said Monday.

Pistorius “is being prepared for a process called a victim-offender dialogue. It is almost the last league before an inmate is taken before a parole board,” correctional spokesman Singabakho Nxumalo told local broadcaster Enca.

According to Nxumalo, once Pistorius completes his offender dialogue program, which involves meeting Steenkamp’s parents to seek either reconciliation or apology, the matter will then be forwarded to the parole board. The board will consider if Pistorius, 34, is suitable for parole or not.

Pistorius has now served eight years in prison, including a later-overturned 2014 sentence for culpable homicide, a step below murder. In 2017 the Supreme Court of Appeal sentenced him to 13 years and five months for Steenkamp’s murder.

The athlete killed his girlfriend on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, 2013, when he fired a handgun four times through a locked bathroom door in his home in the capital Pretoria.

The double-amputee, known as Blade Runner for his athletic achievements on prosthetic legs, at the time maintained that he mistook his girlfriend for an intruder when he opened fire at their home.

Pistorius won a gold medal at the Athens Paralympic Games at age 17, turning him into a national hero. In 2012, he became the first amputee runner to compete in the Olympics.