The South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, has pardoned convicted murderer, Oscar Pistorius, who was Jailed for killing his girlfriend, last Wednesday, INN reports from source
Ramaphosa, who took over as president of South Africa after former President Jacob Zuma stepped down, says the amnesty granted the Olympian takes effect on April 15, 2018. “Pistorius has regretted, very remorseful and apologised. It wasn’t intentional.” says a local radio which quoted the president.
INN gathered that the president’s announcement comes a day after South Africa’s highest court dismissed Pistorius’ request to review the sentence on Monday, bringing a close to a five-year legal saga surrounding the man who was once one of the world’s most celebrated athletes.
Legal experts ruled out that there was nothing Pistorius could do and the presidential pardon comes as a shock to the nation.
INN could be recalled that last year, the Supreme Court of Appeal more than doubled Pistorius’ six-year sentence for the murder of Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model, whom he shot four times through a locked bathroom door in his home on Valentine’s Day in 2013.
The minimum sentence for murder in South Africa is 15 years, and the court called the initial six-year sentence “shockingly lenient.”, INN learnt
The double-amputee blade runner, 31, claims he mistook his girlfriend for an intruder.
Pistorius originally was convicted of manslaughter, but that was overturned and replaced with a murder conviction by the Supreme Court. He has also tried and failed to appeal his murder conviction in the Constitutional Court.
Pistorius was supposed to serve at least half of his 13-year sentence before he could be considered for parole and his immediate release has been questioned by many on social media.
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