A parole hearing to decide if Oscar Pistorius should be released from prison before serving the full five-year sentence for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp has been postponed, a spokeswoman for his family said.
In the latest stage of a lengthy battle over his sentence, the hearing had been scheduled for Friday. South African media said the postponement was to allow Steenkamp’s family to provide submissions.
“It has been postponed until 21 October. I have not been given the official reason for this,” the family spokeswoman, Anneliese Burgess, told Reuters.
The Paralympian’s lawyers argue that he should have been allowed out on house arrest in August after serving more than 10 months of his sentence for killing Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day in 2013. But he has remained in jail after the justice minister, Michael Masutha, made a last-minute intervention and the case was referred for review.
Earlier this week, Pistorius’s family accused officials of bowing to “political and media hype” after the star’s release was delayed again.
Pistorius was found guilty of culpable homicide – a charge equivalent to manslaughter – after saying he shot Steenkamp through a locked bathroom door because he mistook her for an intruder.
Pistorius faces a further test on 3 November when prosecutors will appeal to South Africa’s supreme court to try to secure a murder conviction and a stronger sentence.
Steenkamp’s parents have opposed parole for the athlete.
Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report
