SOUTH AFRICA — Oscar Pistorius, the South African Paralympics athlete runner jailed for the 2013 shooting death of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, was released from prison on Tuesday in South Africa, reports CBS News’ Africa correspondent Debora Patta.
“Yes, the local management of Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Centre has confirmed that Oscar Pistorius was placed under correctional supervision tonight,” said a Correctional Services Spokesman. “The handling of the actual placement is an operational matter of the local management, and how they handle it is their prerogative that is carried out in the best interest of all parties concerned, the victims, the offender and the Department of Correctional Services.”
His lawyer has also confirmed his release to CBS News.
Patta reports it is believed he is at his uncle’s home as that is where he was set to go. He will most likely have to report to police or the Department of Correctional Services on Wednesday in South Africa.
The terms of his release have not yet been made public, but will in all likelihood allow him some movement and to get a job approved by prison authorities.
However, the issue is not over yet as his sentence is being appealed by the prosecution on Nov. 3. Patta reports they want manslaughter changed to murder which carries a stiffer sentence — 15 years in jail.
The Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Supervision and Parole Board made the announcement on Thursday that Pistorius would be released.
Pistorius, popularly known as the “Blade Runner,” shot Steenkamp in what he said was a case of mistaken identity. He was convicted of the equivalent of manslaughter and sentenced in 2014 to five years in prison.
In a statement, the Parole Board said it considered all submissions, including the offender’s profile report, the directives of the Parole Review Board, and the submission of the victim’s family, before making its decision.
Conditions placed upon Pistorius include continued psychotherapy and prohibitions in line with the Fire Arms Control Act Section 103.
In June, the parents of Steenkamp said they had forgiven Pistorius for killing their “precious daughter,” and in a written statement to the Parole Board added, “we do not seek to avenge her death and we do not want Mr. Pistorius to suffer; that will not bring her back to us.”
But the bereaved parents added that, in their view, “incarceration of 10 months for taking a life is simply not enough.”
Unlike the United States, in South Africa prosecutors can actually appeal an acquittal in a homicide, and so “it is very possible he could end up going back to prison for a minimum of 15 years,” Diane Bass, a criminal defense attorney in Los Angeles, told CBS News.