Oscar Pistorius is angling to get out of prison. The former Paralympic gold medalist argues he is eligible for parole, and as the BBC reports, whether that's so isn't exactly black and white. He was originally sentenced to six years for killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in the middle of the night in 2013, claiming he thought she was a burglar. But in 2017, South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal overturned that sentenced and ordered he serve 13 years and five months. In 2021, the SCA said his term should be backdated to his original sentencing, which happened in October 2014.
Inmates in South Africa must serve half their sentence to be eligible for parole. Based on that 2014 date, Pistorius says he has been eligible since February 2021. Sky News reports a scheduled parole hearing was canceled because Pistorius had not met with Steenkamp's parents as part of the required victim-offender dialogue; that took place in late June. As such, he wants a parole hearing to take place, but the prison that's holding him says the SCA rulings don't jibe with each other and the court must provide guidance on how to calculate time served, reports Fox News.
His lawyer on Wednesday told AFP Pistorius has filed "an application to compel the probation committee to agree to a hearing on his parole application. It doesn't mean that he should be paroled, but that his application should be considered." (More Oscar Pistorius stories.)
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