Connect with us

Published

on

Former Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius will be released from prison on Friday, nearly 11 years after murdering his girlfriend.

Pistorius shot Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day 2013 at his home in Pretoria, South Africa.

He said he fired his gun through a bathroom door after mistaking her for an intruder in the early hours.

The decision to grant the 37-year-old parole was made in November.

 Nov. 4, 2012 file photo, South African Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius and Reeva Steenkamp arrive for an awards ceremony in Johannesburg, South Africa
Image:
Reeva Steenkamp and Oscar Pistorius in November 2012

The parole will last until December 2029 and Pistorius will be supervised by a correctional services official and subject to restrictions.

He must attend therapy for anger issues and “gender-based violence issues” and will do community service.

The athlete – once celebrated as the ‘blade runner’ – is expected to spend parole at his uncle’s Pretoria mansion.

Ms Steenkamp’s mother said in November she still did not believe Pistorius’s claim he thought he was shooting at a burglar when he killed her daughter.

“My dearest child screamed for her life… I believe he knew it was Reeva,” June Steenkamp said in a statement.

June Steenkamp, mother of Reeva Steenkamp who was murdered by former athlete Oscar Pistorius in 2013, arrives at Atteridgeville Correctional Centre to attend his parole hearing in Pretoria, South Africa March 31, 2023. REUTERS/Alet Pretorius..
Image:
June Steenkamp doesn’t believe Pistorius has been rehabilitated

She also said she wasn’t convinced Pistorius had been rehabilitated, as “rehabilitation requires someone to engage honestly with the full truth of his crime and the consequences”.

Pistorius’s case – a decade ago – was televised in a blaze of publicity.

The prosecution argued the killing was premeditated and that he shot Ms Steenkamp after she fled to the toilet following a row.

He was initially not found guilty of murder and instead convicted of culpable homicide (the equivalent of manslaughter).

Pistorius was sentenced to five years in 2014 and eventually released to house arrest.

Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius walks in the courtroom without his prosthetic legs during resentencing hearing for the 2013 murder of Reeva Steenkamp
Image:
Pistorius during his trial

A year later, the conviction was overturned by South Africa‘s Supreme Court and he was found guilty of murder.

It ruled he should have foreseen the possibility of killing someone when he fired shots into the bathroom.

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 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.

Read more from Sky News:
Names mentioned in unsealed Epstein documents so far
Iran vows revenge after more than 90 killed

Pistorius with Reeva Steenkamp weeks before her murder
Image:
Pistorius shot dead his girlfriend while she was in the bathroom

Pistorius’s legs were amputated below the knee at 11 months old because of a congenital defect.

He went on to compete at the Paralympics and achieved worldwide fame as the first double amputee to compete in the Olympics.

While locked up, Pistorius’s father said his son had held Bible classes for other prisoners.

He also met Ms Steenkamp’s father, Barry, in 2022 as part of a restorative justice programme that brings offenders and victims together. Mr Steenkamp died in September.

However, there have also been some glimpses of trouble, including a row over a phone that left him needing medical treatment.

Continue Reading

World

CCTV footage reveals shocking moment 80-year-old is shot in IDF raid as UN expert says it could be ‘war crime’

Published

on

By

CCTV footage reveals shocking moment 80-year-old is shot in IDF raid as UN expert says it could be 'war crime'

On 19 December, 80-year-old Palestinian grandmother Halima Abu Leil was shot in an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) raid on her neighbourhood in Balata refugee camp in Nablus, West Bank.

Two days later, Halima’s children told Sky News their mother was shot six times by Israeli special forces on her way to buy groceries. She died soon after.

Warning this piece includes an image from CCTV of the moment Halima Abu Leil was shot.

“They could see she is an elderly lady but they shot her six times – in her leg, in her chest. When she was first shot in her legs, she knelt on the ground,” her daughter said.

Halima Abuleil's daughter
Image:
Halima’s daughter

Newly released grainy CCTV footage shows the moment she was shot and reveals that a van marked as an ambulance was used during the surprise IDF raid.

Halima Abu Leil’s family want the footage to be seen.

Sky News’ Data & Forensics unit has analysed the CCTV and geolocated the street where the video was filmed. It is the exact location Halima’s son told us she “fell to her knees” as she was shot.

READ MORE: Grandmother shot six times by IDF during raid, son says

In the video, we see Halima turn into the street.

Three men are also walking down the street. There is no visible contact between them and Halima. Based on our analysis of their silhouettes, the figure in the middle appears to be holding a weapon. They are likely to be neighbourhood militants.

The figure in the middle appears to be holding a weapon

The three men veer to the right, moving into a sunny area. One takes a seat on some stairs, while the other two stand. They join someone sitting there already.

A few yards away, Halima stops in the middle of the street to speak to another woman with a shopping trolley.

An ambulance pulls into vision, separating the two women, and drives slowly down the street. A white van pulls in behind the medical vehicle.

A few moments later, the passenger door of the white van opens and a faint cloud of smoke is visible, suggesting that a gunshot is fired.

This is the moment Halima falls to her knees.

The men, some of them armed, scatter to the right and left into alleyways along with other people in the street.

asdf

A detailed analysis of the footage suggests that visible clouds of smoke on the walls are the result of multiple shots. The footage and imagery we gathered from the site of the killing shows bullet holes in the building next to where Halima was standing.

The exact location Halima Abu Leil was shot in Balata Refugee Camp.
Image:
The exact location Halima Abu Leil was shot in Balata Refugee Camp

The woman she was speaking to moments earlier takes cover in a doorway.

At the same time, figures who appear to be Israeli military forces exit the ambulance in the foreground. They are equipped with helmets, backpacks, rifles, and other gear.

Soldier seen in video

Armed figures can also be seen leaving the white van in the background. They are seen aiming their weapons down the street.

Halima appears to get hit again and collapses to the floor. The men likely to be neighbourhood militants are not visibly present in the street when this happens.

At the time of our previous report, the IDF said they had conducted “counterterrorism activity” in Balata camp the morning Halima was killed.

We approached the IDF about the CCTV footage and the use of a medical vehicle to conduct their operation.

This was its response: “The IDF is committed to and operates in accordance with international law. The mentioned incident is under review. The review will examine the use of the vehicle shown in the video and the claims of harm to uninvolved individuals during the exchange of fire between the terrorists and our forces.”

The use of a marked medical vehicle for a security operation could be a contravention of the Geneva Convention and a war crime – as well as Halima’s killing.

balata

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on occupied Palestinian territory Francesca Albanese watched the CCTV video and told Sky News she was shocked but not surprised.

She says: “When I look at the footage, what emerges prima facie is that there were no precautions taken – within these operations whose legality is debatable – to avoid or spare civilian life. No principle of proportionality because there was wildfire directed at the identified target and ultimately no respect for the principle of distinction.

“So this was a murder in cold blood and could be a war crime as an extrajudicial killing.”

According to the United Nations Office of Human Rights in occupied Palestinian territory (OHCHR oPt), Israeli security forces and settlers have killed at least 813 mostly unarmed Palestinians, including 15 women and 177 children, since 7 October 2023.

In a statement to Sky News regarding Halima’s killing, the OHCHR oPT said: “Any deliberate killing by Israeli security forces of Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank who do not pose an imminent threat to life is unlawful under international human rights law and a war crime in the context of Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian Territory.

“This incident must be investigated independently, effectively, thoroughly, and transparently. If there is evidence of violations of the applicable law enforcement standards, those responsible must be held to account.”

Sophie Alexander, international affairs producer, and Michelle Inez Simon, visual investigations producer, contributed reporting.


The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.

Continue Reading

World

Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy pushes for Gaza ceasefire deal ahead of US inauguration

Published

on

By

Donald Trump's Middle East envoy pushes for Gaza ceasefire deal ahead of US inauguration

Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy has met Israel’s prime minister in an effort to secure a ceasefire deal in Gaza before the president-elect takes office on 20 January.

Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed details of the meeting with Steve Witkoff on Saturday, adding that the head of the Israeli Mossad intelligence agency has been deployed to Qatar in order to “advance” talks.

It was not immediately clear when David Barnea would travel to Doha for the latest round of indirect discussions between Israel and Hamas.

Earlier on Saturday, an Israeli official said some progress had been made, mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States, to reach a deal in Gaza.

Israel's Chief of the Mossad David Barnea and Security Agency director Ronen Bar attend a memorial ceremony of the Hamas attack on October 7 last year that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza, at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem on October 27, 2024. GIL COHEN-MAGEN/Pool via REUTERS
Image:
Ronen Bar (left), director of Israel’s security agency, and David Barnea (right), head of Mossad, at a ceremony marking the 7 October Hamas attack. File pic: Reuters

The mediators are making renewed efforts to halt fighting in Gaza and free the remaining Israeli hostages held there before Mr Trump takes office.

A deal would also involve the release of some Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

Families of Israeli hostages welcomed Mr Netanyahu’s decision to dispatch the officials, with the Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters describing it as a “historic opportunity”.

Mr Witkoff arrived in Doha on Friday and met the Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar’s foreign ministry said.

Egyptian and Qatari mediators received reassurances from Mr Witkoff that the US would continue to work towards a fair deal to end the war soon, Egyptian security sources said, though no further details were released.

Read more from Sky News:
Why does Donald Trump want Greenland?
Trump says Vladimir Putin wants to meet
A guide to Donald Trump’s inauguration

Israel launched its assault on Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed across its borders in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.

Families of the roughly 100 hostages still held in Gaza are pressing Mr Netanyahu to reach a deal to bring their loved ones home.

Since then, more than 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials, with much of the area destroyed and gripped by a humanitarian crisis, with most of its population displaced.

Continue Reading

World

Pope Francis honoured by Joe Biden with Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction

Published

on

By

Pope Francis honoured by Joe Biden with Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction

Pope Francis has been honoured with America’s highest civilian award by President Joe Biden, who has described the pontiff as “a light of faith, hope, and love that shines brightly across the world”.

It is the first time Mr Biden, 82, has given the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction during his four years in office.

In a statement, the White House said the award is “presented to individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavours”.

Mr Biden had been scheduled to present the medal to Pope Francis, 88, in person on Saturday in Rome on what was to be the final overseas trip of his presidency. But the president cancelled his visit to monitor the California wildfires.

The White House said Mr Biden bestowed the award during a phone call in which they also discussed efforts to promote peace and alleviate suffering around the world.

President Joe Biden presents Bono with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Pic: AP
Image:
President Joe Biden presented Bono with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Pic: AP

President Joe Biden presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Denzel Washington. Pic: AP
Image:
Denzel Washington was also recognised. Pic: AP

President Joe Biden presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Michael J Fox. Pic: AP
Image:
Michael J Fox was bestowed with the honour. Pic: AP

The award can be presented with or without distinction.

Mr Biden presented the medal of freedom – without distinction – on 5 January to several people including fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton, humanitarian and U2 singer Bono, fashion designer Ralph Lauren and actors Michael J Fox and Denzel Washington.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

‘I could have beaten Trump’

Read more from Sky News:
Gay men can become priests
Search widened for missing sisters
Carrie Johnson left ‘struggling to breathe’

Mr Biden himself is a recipient of the award with distinction, recognised when he was vice president by then president Barack Obama in a surprise ceremony eight years ago.

President Barack Obama presents Vice President Joe Biden with the Presidential Medal of Freedom during a ceremony in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Jan. 12, 2017. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Image:
Barack Obama presented Joe Biden with the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction in 2017. File pic: AP

The citation for the pope’s honour said his “mission of serving the poor has never ceased”.

“A loving pastor, he joyfully answers children’s questions about God. A challenging teacher, he commands us to fight for peace and protect the planet. A welcoming leader, he reaches out to different faiths,” it added.

Continue Reading

Trending