S.Africa suspends decision to free Pistorius

It is up to that review board to decide whether the parole board’s initial decision, made in June, will still stand.

Two days before he was due to leave prison, Oscar Pistorius’ early release was suddenly put on hold Wednesday by South Africa’s Department of Justice, which sent his case back to a parole board.

In postponing Oscar Pistorius’ release date, the justice minister explained that the paralympian has not served a sixth of his sentence, which would have made him liable for parole.

South Africa’s justice ministry announced on Wednesday that Oscar Pistorius’ release from prison has been delayed pending a second review by the parole board.

As the BBC reports, Pistorius can be released under “correctional supervision” because he has served a sixth of his sentence.

The plan was for Pistorius to serve his parole at his uncle’s plush mansion in a Pretoria suburb where he would have minimal supervision and not be required to wear an electronic monitoring device. Running on prosthetic blades, he won gold medals at the 2004 and 2008 Paralympics before competing in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, where he ran in the 400-meter race and the 4×400-meter relay.

The group, the Progressive Women’s Movement of South Africa, said earlier this week that it was shocked at the “insensitivity” of the decision to release Mr. Pistorius from prison during Women’s Month.

The announcement to suspend his early release, which caused widespread anger and debate, follows prosecutors filing papers at South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal calling for Pistorius to be convicted of murder on Monday (August 17).

Reeva Steenkamp’s parents say they’re still struggling to come to terms with their loss.

Prosecutors are still pushing for the conviction to be upgraded to murder, after accusing the judge of ignoring key evidence in the case.

He said the shooting in his upmarket Pretoria home was a tragic mistake as he thought Steenkamp was asleep in bed, not in the small toilet cubicle.

Pistorius had both legs amputated below the knee at the age of 11 months.

Reeva Steenkamp died in February 2013 after Pistorius claimed he shot her by accident, thinking she was an intruder.