South Africa: Oscar Pistorius Granted Bail After Murder Conviction

South African court on Tuesday granted bail to paralympian Oscar Pistorius after he was convicted of murder for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day 2013, with the judge saying the athlete did not pose a flight risk.

Pistorius faces a minimum 15-year jail sentence.

It would be recalled that the Supreme Court last Thursday upgraded the 29-year-old athlete's sentence to murder from "culpable homicide", South Africa's equivalent of manslaughter, for which he had received a five-year sentence.

Oscar Pistorius To Stay In Prison Until At Least Mid-September

Oscar Pistorius’s parole review has been set for 18 September, meaning the athlete will spend at least another three weeks in jail, his family has said.

Pistorius, who was convicted of culpable homicide for killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, was due to be moved to house arrest last Friday after serving 10 months behind bars.

But Michael Masutha, the justice minister, referred the matter back to the parole review board. The justice department said the athlete had been approved to be moved to house arrest too soon.

South Africa Suspends Release Of Oscar Pistorius

South African Paralympian Oscar Pistorius, serving a five-year prison term for killing his girlfriend, may not walk free as expected this week because the decision to release him was "premature", the justice ministry says.

Justice Minister Michael Masutha said in a statement on Wednesday that a June decision to release him on Friday after he had served just one-sixth of his sentence had "no legal basis" and would be suspended pending a parole board review.

Oscar Pistorius Now For House Arrest After 10 Months In Prison

Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius will soon move to house arrest, after serving just 10 months in prison for fatally shooting his girlfriend two years ago. The sprint runner will move Friday from the Kgosi Mampuru II prison in Pretoria, South Africa, to his uncle’s mansion in an affluent suburb of the city.

After his release, he will not have to wear an electronic monitoring device and will likely be allowed to leave the house for mandatory work and important family events.

Oscar Pistorius Sentenced To 5 Years In Jail

Oscar Pistorius was taken away in a police van with barred windows Tuesday to start serving a five-year prison sentence for killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Delivering her sentence, Judge Thokozile Masipa cited the "gross negligence" the double-amputee Olympic runner showed when he shot Steenkamp multiple times through a toilet cubicle door in his home.

Pistorius, who had cried and retched during his trial, was unemotional as he stood to hear his sentence. His prison term begins immediately and he was led down a flight of stairs and toward holding cells before leaving the South African courthouse in the armored vehicle.

Oscar Pistorius Awaits Jail Sentence Today

The Olympic and Paralympic runner was convicted of culpable homicide last month for shooting dead 29-year-old law graduate and model Reeva Steenkamp at his home in Pretoria in February 2013.

Judge Thokozile Masipa cleared Pistorius of the more serious charge of murder, saying prosecutors had failed to prove his intent to kill when he fired four 9mm rounds through the door of a toilet cubicle in what he said was the mistaken belief an intruder was lurking behind it.

OSCAR PISTORIUS: I Am Scared To Sleep

His voice trembling with emotion, Oscar Pistorius took the witness stand in his own defence on Monday, saying the Valentine's Day shooting of his girlfriend last year had left him sleepless, terrified and plagued by nightmares.

The disabled South African track star, on trial for murder, apologised to the mother of model Reeva Steenkamp, saying he had fired four times through a toilet door at his luxury Pretoria home in the belief he was defending her from an intruder.

Steenkamp, a law graduate and model, was hit by at least three rounds, one of which - to the head - killed her almost instantly, the court has heard.