South African athlete Pistorius granted parole ten years after killing his girlfriend

South African former Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius, jailed in 2014 for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, was granted parole, prison authorities said on Friday.

"The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) confirms parole placement for Mr Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius, effectively from 5 January 2024," a DCS spokesman said.

The girlfriend's mother had told the court earlier on Friday that he had "not been rehabilitated".

June Steenkamp was not opposing parole, but in her statement to the board assessing whether Pistorius should be released, she said he had not shown true remorse.

"Rehabilitation requires someone to engage honestly, with the full truth of his crime and the consequences thereof. Nobody can claim to have remorse if they're not able to engage fully with the truth," she said.

Second appeal

Pistorius, 37, appeared before a parole board at a correctional centre outside Pretoria, South Africa, where he is currently detained.

The board is reviewing whether he is fit for social reintegration, the department of correctional services said.

It was Pistorius' second shot at parole in less than eight months.

He lost a first bid in March when the board found Pistorius had not completed the minimum detention period required to be let out.

The Constitutional Court last month ruled that was a mistake, paving the way for a new hearing.

Pistorius killed Steenkamp, a model, in the early hours of Valentine's Day 2013, firing four times through the bathroom door of his ultra-secure Pretoria house.

From champion to criminal

Known as the "Blade Runner" for his carbon-fibre prosthetic legs, Pistorius went from a public hero as a Paralympic champion to a convicted killer in hearings that caught the world's attention a decade ago.

Pistorius shot and killed Steenkamp on Valentine's Day in 2013.

He was initially jailed for five years in 2014 for culpable homicide by a high court but the Supreme Court of Appeal in late 2015 found him guilty of murder after an appeal by prosecutors.

He was sent back to jail for six years in 2016, less than half the 15-year minimum term sought by prosecutors.

In 2017, the Supreme Court more than doubled his sentence to 13 years and five months, saying the six-year jail term was "shockingly lenient".

 (with newswires)