Former Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius has applied for parole and the matter is expected to come up for hearing on Friday. Pistorius is serving 13 years and five months in prison after being convicted of shooting and killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013. He can be released from jail after 10 years of this incident. Riva’s parents, Barry and June Steenkamp, have said they will oppose Pistorius’ release. “She is a killer,” Barrie said in an interview with Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper published last month on the 10th anniversary of her daughter’s murder. He should be in jail.
The Department of Corrections declined to provide information on Pistorius’ hearing, saying it was “an internal matter” like any other parole hearing. The adjudicating board in such cases will consider the offenses for which Pistorius was convicted, his conduct while in prison and his disciplinary record. How has he attended educational or other training courses and what is his mental and physical condition? Is he likely to ‘return to crime’ again? And may he pose a risk to the public.
