Johannesburg, South AfricaCNN \u2014 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oscar Pistorius, the double-amputee Paralympic and Olympic sprinter, was released from prison on parole on Friday, more than a decade after shooting his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, in a killing that shocked the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A parole board granted Pistorius\u2019 petition in November on the grounds that he had served half of his 13-year sentence for murdering Steenkamp, making him eligible according to South African law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Singabakho Nxumalo, a spokesperson for South Africa\u2019s Department of Correctional Services (DCS), told CNN that Pistorius was released from Atteridgeville Correctional Centre, west of Pretoria, on Friday morning. He will be subject to parole conditions until his sentence expires in 2029.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite a gathering of media outside Atteridgeville Correctional Centre, Pistorius was not seen leaving the prison or returning home on Friday. A police van was pictured Friday morning outside his uncle Arnold Pistorius\u2019s home in the affluent Pretoria suburb of Waterkloof; local media have reported he will be living at that residence for the duration of his parole, although this has not been officially confirmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Department of Correction Services said in its statement on Wednesday that \u201cdetails in terms of transportation plans and time of release shall not be made public\u201d and that disclosing such details \u201cmay result in a security threat for the inmate and other stakeholders involved.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a statement Friday, Steenkamp\u2019s mother said her only desire following Pistorius\u2019 release is that she would be allowed to live her remaining years \u201cin peace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere can never be justice if your loved one is never coming back, and no amount of time served will bring Reeva back,\u201d June Steenkamp said. \u201cWe, who remain behind, are the ones serving a life sentence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pistorius shot Steenkamp four times through a locked\u00a0<\/strong>bathroom door in his home in Pretoria on February 14, 2013. He has maintained that he did not kill her in a fit of anger during a Valentine\u2019s Day argument, as prosecutors argued, and said instead he had mistaken her for an intruder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the trial, which garnered global attention, Pistorius pleaded not guilty to one charge of murder and a firearms charge associated with Steenkamp\u2019s killing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He was initially <\/strong>convicted of manslaughter in 2014 and sentenced to five years. But a higher court overturned the conviction and upgraded it to murder a year later, increasing his sentence to six years in prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ruling was appealed by prosecutors who claimed the sentence was too lenient. Pistorius\u2019 sentence was\u00a0increased to 13 years and five months\u00a0by South Africa\u2019s Supreme Court of Appeal in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pistorius became eligible for parole in March 2023, due to a law for inmates who have served half of their sentence and met conditions such as good behavior. The legislation is part of the country\u2019s \u201cRestorative Justice\u201d process, which gives offenders the opportunity to \u201cacknowledge and take responsibility for their actions.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Johannesburg, South AfricaCNN \u2014 Oscar Pistorius, the double-amputee Paralympic and Olympic sprinter, was released from prison on parole on Friday, more than a decade after shooting his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, in a killing that shocked the world. A parole board granted Pistorius\u2019 petition in November on the grounds that he had served half of his 13-year sentence […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38467,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,4],"tags":[7,26,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-38466","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-sports","9":"tag-apie-project","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n