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.

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.