Olympic and Paralympic track star Oscar Pistorius (L) speaks to his brother Carl during his murder trial at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on May 20, 2014. Image via POOL/Siphiwe Sibeko
‘Tragic, honest mistake’: Oscar Pistorius’s brother supports parole bid
Oscar Pistorius’s brother Carl has claimed that his sibling has spent a ‘self-imposed sentence of guilt’ over an ‘honest mistake’…
Olympic and Paralympic track star Oscar Pistorius (L) speaks to his brother Carl during his murder trial at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on May 20, 2014. Image via POOL/Siphiwe Sibeko
Oscar Pistorius’s brother Carl has shown his support for his sibling’s early release from prison.
The former Paralympian has filed papers with the Constitutional Court to question why his parole bid was revoked earlier this year. He’s also claimed that his bid was “unfairly” overlooked and that his “fundamental rights” were “infringed.”
A decade ago, Pistorius shot and killed his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. In 2017, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) increased his six-year sentence to 13 years and five months.
According to the Department of Correctional Services (DCS), Oscar will become eligible for parole in 16 months – i.e., August 2024.
ALSO READ: Oscar Pistorius: Why has he approached the ConCourt for parole?
OSCAR PISTORIUS BROTHER SPEAKS OUT
Carl Pistorius responded to The South African’s questions about Oscar’s sentence and parole bid.
He said: “What is ‘rehabilitation’? What do you mean by ‘served his time’? Such fundamental questions with such complex answers.
He continued: “He [Oscar] was rehabilitated before he went in. He will spend his life serving a self-imposed sentence of guilt for a tragic but honest mistake because we, as a rainbow nation, have failed one another.
ALSO READ: ‘Hurt someone else’: Reeva Steenkamp’s mom slams Oscar Pistorius [watch]
“If you’re asking if his constitutional rights have been infringed upon, yes, absolutely.”
‘DEEPLY DISAPPOINTED’
It’s not the first time Carl has spoken out about Oscar Pistorius’s parole bid, which was denied in both March 2023 and November 2022.
In April, Oscar’s brother and sister, Aimee, claimed that DCS and the parole board had gotten their dates all wrong.
On their separate Twitter accounts, they tweeted a statement that read: “Our family is deeply disappointed by the decision of the Correctional Services and Parole Board on Oscar’s parole consideration.”
ALSO READ: ‘This is wrong’: Oscar Pistorius’s siblings slam court’s ‘math errors’
It continued: “Per the South African legal system, prisoners are eligible to seek parole once they have served the minimum period and met certain requirements. We believe Oscar has met all these requirements and disagree with how the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has evaluated the minimum detention period. We will be seeking clarification”.
Oscar’s siblings added that the SCA’s judgement and multiple orders thereof have been a “continuous source of confusion and avoidable distress to all parties involved.”
Carl also tweeted another statement, documenting in detail the directives imposed by the SCA between January 2021 and March 2023. In it, the Pistorius family claims that the parole board constituted a “mistake compounding another mistake.”
The document outlines how the SCA recently issued a clarification order antedating Oscar’s murder sentence to November 2017 – the date the court imposed his 13-year and five-month sentence – and did not consider time already spent in jail before this. The family is arguing that his prison sentence began in July 2016.
“This is simply wrong,” the document concluded.
ALSO READ: ‘Shameful’: Pistorius supporters slam Reeva’s ‘greedy’ mom
PAROLE BID: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Oscar Pistorius was convicted of culpable homicide in October 2014. This was later upgraded to murder in December 2015. He was handed a six-year prison sentence.
However, the SCA increased his jail term to 13 years and five months following an unsuccessful appeal in November 2017.
Here is a simplified version of his parole bid history.
- In November 2022, Pistorius had his parole application revoked following a discrepancy over the dates of when his sentence began.
- According to claims made by Pistorius’s attorney Julian Knight, he received a directive from the SCA antedating the sentence to 2014, the year the offender was originally sentenced. He argued that Pistorius was, therefore, eligible to be considered for parole in February 2021.
- However, the Atteridgeville prison, where Pistorius spent most of his sentence, claims he only became eligible in March 2023.
- On 31 March 2023, Pistorius’s parole bid was denied again.
- Just days before his March parole hearing, the SCA issued a clarification order antedating Oscar’s murder sentence to November 2017 – the date the court imposed his 13-year and five-month sentence – and did not consider time already spent in jail before this.
- Pistorius’s family and attorney argued that his prison sentence began in July 2016.
- Oscar Pistorius will now only become eligible for parole in August 2024
