South Africa Paper Reacts To Pistorius Verdict

In what has been described as a “shocking twist”, Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius has been found guilty of murder after a South African appeal overturned the previous ruling of culpable homicide.

Prosecutors have been engaged in deliberations since Thursday’s ruling by the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein overturned Judge Thokozile Masipa’s sentence.

“No arrest warrant has been issued”, NPA spokesman Luvuyo Mfaku told AFP, dismissing local media reports.

Firstly, she had failed to correctly apply the legal principle of dolus eventualis and should have found that Pistorius had foreseen that he could have killed a person.

A High Court hearing is expected next week to set a date for sentencing.

The latest dramatic twist in the case of the double amputee runner was “a human tragedy of Shakespearean proportions”, wrote Justice Lorimer Eric Leach.

Oscar Pistorius is now under house arrest after spending one year of his original five-year sentence in jail. “Three, the methods referred back to the trial court to consider an appropriate sentence afresh in light of the comments in this judgment”, said Leach.

That still might not be enough to keep the double-amputee South African behind bars for the minimum 15-year sentence that awaits him, The Guardian reported.

But in a unanimous decision, the five judges of the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that Pistorius, well-trained in weapons, must have known that someone would die when he opened fire.

Responding to the verdict, Pistorius’ family said their lawyers are studying the finding and will advise them on “options going forward”. He fired four shots into the bathroom door of his Pretoria home on Valentine’s Day in 2013. “I feel it’s a fair decision that the judge gave”, before breaking down in tears.

Pistorius insisted he shot Steenkamp by mistake, thinking there was an intruder behind the door of a toilet cubicle in his home.