Pistorius prosecutors push for murder charges

State prosecutors in South Africa filed an appeal on Monday calling for Oscar Pistorius to be convicted of the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, days before he is set to be released from prison on probation.

The Paralympian athlete was handed a five-year prison sentence in 2014 after being found guilty of culpable homicide, the South African equivalent to manslaughter. He is set to be paroled on Friday, ten months into his prison sentence, but will remain under a form of house arrest.

However, state prosecutors want Pistorius’ conviction to be reviewed and converted to murder, with a minimum prison sentence of 15 years. Pistorius’s defence team has until 17 September to submit its response, with the appeal hearing expected in November.

Under South African law, Pistorius is eligible for release under “correctional supervision”, having serve a sixth of his sentence. He is expected to stay at his uncle’s three-storey mansion in a wealthy suburb of Pretoria. He is likely to be allowed to leave the house to work, carry out community service and attend important family events. Officials say that he will not have to wear an electronic monitoring device.

The double amputee was born without the fibulas in both of his legs and had surgery to amputate both below the knee while still a baby. He became a sporting celebrity after becoming the first amputee to compete against able-bodied athletes, at the 2012 London Olympics.

On Valentine’s Day in 2013, he killed his girlfriend when he fired four shots through a locked bathroom door at his Pretoria home. He told his trial that he had mistaken Steemkamp for an intruder.

Because of his disability, Pistorius has been held since 21 October in the hospital ward of Kgosi Mampuru II prison in Pretoria. He is now eligible for release in line with guidelines that allow “non-dangerous” prisoners to only spend a sixth of a custodial sentence behind bars.

Steemkamp’s parents, Barry and June, have objected to Pistorius’ release.

“Statistics show that our society is under continuous attack from criminals and murderers,” they wrote earlier this year. “Incarceration of 10 months for taking a life is simply not enough. We fear that this will not send out the proper message and serve as the deterrent it should.”