Oscar Pistorius freed on parole nearly 11 years after murdering girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp
Oscar Pistorius has been freed on parole nearly 11 years after murdering his girlfriend in a case that made global headlines.
The former Paralympic champion – once celebrated as the ‘blade runner’ – was granted parole in November and today left a South African jail and is now at home, South Africa’s correctional services department said.
Pistorius shot Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day in 2013 at his home in Pretoria.
The 37-year-old said he fired his gun through a bathroom door after mistaking her for an intruder.
Oscar Pistorius with Reeva Steenkamp weeks before her murder
Prosecutors said the killing was premeditated and he shot Ms Steenkamp after she fled to the toilet following a row.
The parole will last until December 2029 and Pistorius will be subject to restrictions and supervised by a correctional services official.
Some of the parole conditions include restrictions on when he will be allowed to leave his home, a ban on consuming alcohol and orders he must also attend therapy for anger issues and “gender-based violence issues”. He will also have to perform community service.
He will have to regularly meet with parole officers and will be subjected to unannounced visits by authorities. He will have to inform a Department of Corrections official of any major changes in his life, such as if he wants to get a job or move to another house.
He was expected to stay in his uncle’s Pretoria mansion and will not be allowed to leave the Waterkloof district without permission.
He could be sent back to jail if he breaches any of his parole conditions.
June Steenkamp
In a statement shared by the Steenkamp family lawyer, Ms Steenkamp’s mother said: “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.
“We, who remain behind, are the ones serving a life sentence,” June Steenkamp said. “With the release of Oscar Pistorius on parole, my only desire is that I will be allowed to live my last years in peace with my focus remaining on the Reeva Rebecca Steenkamp Foundation, to continue Reeva’s legacy.”
She said the conditions imposed by the parole board had affirmed her belief in the South African justice system as they “send out a clear message that gender-based violence is taken seriously”.
Read more:
Who is Oscar Pistorius? From ‘blade runner’ to convicted murderer
Oscar Pistorius leaving court in 2016
Pistorius was initially not found guilty of murder and convicted of culpable homicide (equivalent to manslaughter) in a case broadcast on live TV.
He was sentenced to five years in 2014 and eventually released to house arrest.
A year later, the conviction was overturned by South Africa’s supreme court and he was found guilty of murder.
Pistorius was given six years in 2016 – later increased to 13 years and five months after it was deemed “shockingly lenient”.
Serious offenders are eligible for parole in South Africa after serving at least half their sentence.
Pistorius during sentencing for murdering Ms Steenkamp
Pistorius was denied parole in March 2023 after a court said he had applied too early.
However, his lawyer said the court’s calculations were a mistake, and eight months later the decision went his way.
Reaction to Pistorius’s parole has been relatively muted in South Africa, in stark contrast to the days and months after Ms Steenkamp’s killing which saw angry protests outside court hearings calling for him to receive a long prison sentence.
“He has ticked all the necessary boxes,” said Themba Masango, secretary general of Not In My Name International, a group campaigning against violence against women. “And we can only wish and hope Oscar Pistorius will come out a better human being.
“We tend to forget that there is a possibility where somebody can be rehabilitated.”
World
Body of missing rabbi Zvi Kogan found in UAE – as Israeli PM says he was murdered in ‘antisemitic terror incident’
The COP29 climate talks have reached a last ditch deal on cash for developing countries, pulling the summit back from the brink of collapse after a group of countries stormed out of a negotiating room earlier.
The slew of deals finally signed off in the small hours of Sunday morning in Azerbaijan includes one that proved hardest of all – one about money.
Eventually the more than 190 countries in Baku agreed a target for richer polluting countries such as the UK, EU and Japan to drum up $300bn a year by 2035 to help poorer nations both curb and adapt to climate change.
It is a far cry from the $1.3trn experts say is needed, and from the $500bn that vulnerable countries like Uganda had said they would be willing to accept.
But in the end they were forced to, knowing they could not afford to live without it, nor wait until next year to try again, when a Donald Trump presidency would make things even harder.
Bolivia’s lead negotiator Diego Pacheco called it an “insult”, while the Marshall Islands’ Tina Stege said it was “not nearly enough, but it’s a start”.
UN climate chief Simon Stiell said: “This new finance goal is an insurance policy for humanity, amid worsening climate impacts hitting every country.
“No country got everything they wanted, and we leave Baku with a mountain of work still to do. So this is no time for victory laps.”
The funding deal was clinched more than 24 hours into overtime, and against what felt like all the odds.
The talks were rocked from the start by the incoming presidency of climate denier Mr Trump, the moment Argentina’s team were recalled back to Buenos Aires by their right-wing president and a controversial letter that sent shockwaves through the United Nations.
Pic: AP
The fraught two weeks of negotiations pitted the anger of developing countries who are footing the bill for more dangerous weather that they did little to cause, against the tight public finances of rich countries.
A relieved Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez, climate envoy for Panama, said there is “light at the end of the tunnel”.
Just hours ago, the talks almost fell apart as furious vulnerable nations stormed out of negotiations in frustration over that elusive funding goal.
They were also angry with oil and gas producing countries, who stood accused of trying to dilute aspects of the deal on cutting fossil fuels.
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Climate-vulnerable nations storm out of talks
The UN talks work on consensus, meaning everyone has to agree for a deal to fly.
A row over how to follow up on last year’s pledge to “transition away from fossil fuels” was left unresolved and punted into next year, following objections from Chile and Switzerland for being too weak.
A draft deal simply “reaffirmed” the commitment but did not dial up the pressure in the way the UK, EU, island states and many others here wanted.
Saudi Arabia fought the hardest against any step forward on cutting fossil fuels, the primary cause of climate change that is intensifying floods, drought and fires around the world.
Governments did manage to strike a deal on carbon markets at COP29, which has been 10 years in the making and will allow countries to trade emissions cuts.
‘Not everything we wanted’
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The UK’s energy secretary, Ed Miliband, said the deal is “not everything we or others wanted”, but described it as a “step forward”.
“It’s a deal that will drive forward the clean energy transition, which is essential for jobs and growth in Britain and for protecting us all against the worsening climate crisis,” he added.
“Today’s agreement sends the signal that the clean energy transition is unstoppable.
“It is the biggest economic opportunity of the 21st century and through our championing of it we can help crowd in private investment.”
Protesters at the summit in Baku. Pic: AP
Read more:
Azerbaijan president hails oil and gas as ‘gift from God’
UN climate summits ‘no longer fit for purpose’
The Azerbaijan team leading COP29 said: “Every hour of the day, we have pulled people together. Every inch of the way, we have pushed for the highest common denominator.
“We have faced geopolitical headwinds and made every effort to be an honest broker for all sides.”
At least 20 people have been killed and 66 injured in Israeli strikes on central Beirut, Lebanese authorities have said.
Lebanon‘s health ministry said the death toll could rise as emergency workers dig through the rubble looking for survivors. DNA tests are being used to identify the victims, the ministry added.
The attack destroyed an eight-storey residential building and badly damaged several others around it in the Basta neighbourhood at 4am (2am UK time) on Saturday.
The central Basta neighbourhood in Beirut
The Israeli military did not warn residents to evacuate before the attack and has not commented on the casualties.
At least four bombs were dropped in the attack – the fourth targeting the city centre this week.
A separate drone strike in the southern port city of Tyre this morning killed two people and injured three, according to the state-run National News Agency.
The victims were Palestinian refugees from the nearby al Rashidieh camp who were out fishing, according to Mohammed Bikai, spokesperson for the Fatah Palestinian faction in the Tyre area.
Israel’s military warned residents today in parts of Beirut’s southern suburbs that they were near Hezbollah facilities, which the army would target in the near future. The warning, posted on X, told people to evacuate at least 500 metres away.
The army said that over the past day it had conducted intelligence-based strikes on Hezbollah targets in Dahiyeh, in Beirut’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a strong presence. It said it hit several command centres and weapons storage facilities.
Pic: AP
Israel has killed several Hezbollah leaders in air strikes on the capital’s southern suburbs.
Heavy fighting between Israel and Hezbollah is ongoing in southern Lebanon, as Israeli forces push deeper into the country since launching a major offensive in September.
According to the Lebanese health ministry, at least 3,670 people have been killed in Israeli attacks there, with more than 15,400 wounded.
It has displaced about 1.2 million people – a quarter of Lebanon’s population – while Israel says about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed in northern Israel.
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‘Dozens’ of Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrike
Meanwhile, six people, including three children and two women, were killed in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis.
Some 44,176 Palestinians have been killed since the start of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, according to the Gaza health ministry.
The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, but it has said that more than half of the fatalities are women and children.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking another 250 hostage.
US envoy Amos Hochstein was in the region this week to try to end more than 13 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, ignited last October by the war in Gaza.
Mr Hochstein indicated progress had been made after meetings in Beirut on Tuesday and Wednesday, before going to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defence minister Israel Katz.
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