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News > Sport

Court Grants Oscar Pistorius US$700 Bail to Go Home

  • Oscar Pistorius in court

    Oscar Pistorius in court | Photo: Reuters

Published 8 December 2015
Opinion

Once again, Pistorius managed to avoid jail, but all that may change when a new hearing will take place to either accept his appeal or send him to jail.

Paralympian champion from South Africa, Oscar Pistorius, was granted bail, equivalent to US$700 in local curreny, on Tuesday allowing him to go back to house arrest despite having been convicted of murder, local reports announced.

Pistorius is awaiting to be sentenced after being found guilty of murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, a crime for which he can be sent to jail from anywhere between 15 years and life in prison, according to his lawyer Barry Roux.

RELATED: Oscar Pistorius Found Guilty of Murder, Will Go to Prison

For the meantime, Pistorius will be living at his uncle's home in Pretoria under house arrest. He will have an electronic device attached to him and will only be allowed to leave his place of residence for no more than five hours a day and no further than about 12.5 miles or 20 kilometers.

Before leaving the house, however, he will have to ask police for permission.

Roux said Pistorius will appeal to the sentence, and added that his client is completely broke due to the long judicial process and that he no longer receives any money from sponsors.

The athlete was originally found guilty of “involuntary manslaughter,” as he claimed he thought he was shooting at a thieve who had locked himself in Pistorius' bathroom and not at his girlfriend. However, that ruling was overturned last week.

The court has ordered Pistorius to hand in his passport, although when setting the bail amount, Judge Aubrey Ledwaba considered the paralympian not to be a flight risk.

After his original sentencing, Pistorius was jailed for about a year before being allowed house arrest.

Roux confirmed Pistorius intentions to appeal to the new court ruling, because he said his client believes the Supreme Court reexamined the evidence and arguments incorrectly.

On Dec. 3, the Supreme Court found that the lower court had committed “various fundamental errors.”

The court added that Pistorius could not have ignored that shooting four times with a high-caliber weapon at medium height and close range he would kill someone.

Steenkamp's family lawyer Tania Koen said that Pistorius appeals and requests for bail are simply a “strategy to delay the procedure against him.”

Ledwaba scheduled a new hearing for April 16, 2016, by when it will be clear whether the court has accepted his appeal request.

Pistorius hit the spotlight during the 2012 London Olympics when he competed in the regular 400-meter competition along with other athletes.


 
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