The joy of the family of Paralympian Oscar Pistorius has been cut short after an intended release of the embattled athlete was upended.
Pistorious who was set for an early release on parole 10 months after he was sentenced to five years in jail for killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, will still have to cool off his heels for some months in prison.
This follows reports that Michael Masutha, South Africa’s justice minister, has stopped the intended release of Pistorious.
Pistorius was billed to be released yesterday, August 21 after serving just a sixth of his term and was to be moved to his uncle’s three-storey mansion in the capital, Pretoria.
South African law however allows a convict to be released, to complete a term at home, after serving a sixth of his sentence in what is called “correctional supervision”.
The prison parole board had permitted Pistorius’ release.
Oscar Pistorius in court of Pretoria, SA.
However, in a statement on Wednesday, August 19, Masutha said the decision by the prison’s parole board to release Pistorius was too swift, hence illegal.
According to Masutha, it was taken long before Pistorius served a sixth of his jail term.
“One sixth of a five-year sentence is 10 months and at the time the decision was made Pistorius had served only over six months of his sentence.
“It is therefore clear that there is no legal basis upon which such a decision was made,”the statement noted.
The statement said the government decided to stop the release after a group, Progressive Women’s Movement of South Africa, protested Pistorius’ release.
Anonymous family source told Reuters news agency that they were shocked at the decision of Musatha, as the family had planned a low key welcome for Pistorius.
In the early morning of Thursday, 14 February 2013, Pistorius shot and killed his girlfriend Steenkamp at his Pretoria home.
Pistorius acknowledged that he shot Steenkamp, but said that he mistook her for an intruder.
Pistorius was taken into police custody and was formally charged with murder in a Pretoria court on 15 February 2013.
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