Oscar Pistorius, South African Olympian, Denied Parole in Murder of Reeva Steenkamp : NPR

Oscar Pistorius speaks on a mobile phone in June 2016 during his sentencing hearing for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp at the High Court in Pretoria, South Africa.

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Oscar Pistorius speaks on a mobile phone in June 2016 during his sentencing hearing for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp at the High Court in Pretoria, South Africa.

Alon Skuy/AP

PRETORIA, South Africa — Former Olympic runner Oscar Pistorius was denied parole on Friday and will have to remain in prison for at least a year and four months after it was ruled he had not served the “minimum period of detention” required to be released following his murder conviction for the 2013 murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

The parole board that heard Pistorius’ application decided he could reapply in August 2024, the South African Department of Corrections said in a statement. Counsel cited a new clarification on Pistorius’ sentence which was issued by South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal three days ago, the statement said.

The result came as a surprise, but there have been legal wrangling over when Pistorius should be eligible for parole due to the string of appeals in his case. He was first convicted of culpable homicide, a charge comparable to manslaughter, in 2014, but the case was subject to several appeals before Pistorius was finally sentenced to 13 years and five months jail for murder in 2017.

Serious offenders must serve at least half their sentence to be eligible for parole in South Africa and lawyers for Pistorius had gone to court to argue that he was now eligible because he had served the required time in prison from late 2014 following his culpable homicide. conviction.

June Steenkamp, ​​the mother of Reeva Steenkamp sits inside the corrections car Thursday at Atteridgeville prison for Oscar Pistorius’ parole hearing in Pretoria, South Africa.

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June Steenkamp, ​​the mother of Reeva Steenkamp sits inside the corrections car Thursday at Atteridgeville prison for Oscar Pistorius’ parole hearing in Pretoria, South Africa.

Themba Hadebe/AP

June Steenkamp, ​​Reeva Steenkamp’s mother, attended Pistorius’ hearing on Friday to oppose his parole. Reeva Steenkamp’s parents say they still don’t believe Pistorius’ account of their daughter’s murder.

Pistorius always claimed to have killed Steenkamp in the hours before dawn on Valentine’s Day 2013 after mistaking her for a dangerous intruder in his house. The Steenkamps said they believed he intentionally killed her after a late-night argument and wanted him to remain in jail.