Disgraced former monitor star Oscar Pistorius met final month with the daddy of his ex-girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, whom he murdered in 2013.
Barry Steenkamp “met with Oscar on 22 June 2022 for the Sufferer Offender Dialogue,” the Reeva Rebecca Steenkamp Basis, stated Saturday in an announcement posted on Fb. The belief operated by Reeva’s mom, June Steenkamp, additionally thanked South African officers for his or her assist in establishing the assembly.
The Steenkamp’s household lawyer, Tania Koen, additionally confirmed the assembly had taken place, telling NBC Information in an e mail that Pistorius, 35, took half in it, which is an integral a part of South Africa’s restorative justice program.
This system provides victims of crimes or their family members an opportunity to satisfy with the offenders, in the event that they select to, earlier than the offender could be eligible for parole, in a bid to attain closure.
“(I can) verify Barry Steenkamp and Oscar Pistorius participated in a victim-offender dialogue on 22 June 2022,” Koen stated in an announcement. She added that to guard her shoppers’ privateness, she would make no additional remark. Pistorius was born with a congenital situation that led to each his legs being amputated beneath the knee when he was 11 months previous.
After he was fitted with carbon-fiber prosthetic legs, he went on to attain worldwide fame on the monitor, incomes the nickname “Blade Runner.” He made historical past when he competed on the 2012 Olympics in London, and earned tens of millions of {dollars} in endorsements.
However on Valentine’s Day 2013 Pistorius shot Steenkamp, a 29-year-old regulation pupil and mannequin, by way of the toilet door of their luxurious residence within the South African capital of Pretoria.
After a lengthy and dramatic trial and quite a few appeals, he was convicted of her homicide in 2015 and sentenced to 13 years and 5 months in jail.
Though Pistorius turned eligible for parole final 12 months, a listening to was canceled as a result of his assembly with the Steenkamps had not but occurred.
Having served most of his sentence at a jail in Pretoria, he was moved to a facility within the southern metropolis of Gqeberha, the Steenkamps’ residence city, forward of the assembly with Barry Steenkamp.
Pistorius will nonetheless attend a parole listening to the place correctional providers officers will determine whether or not he will probably be launched early, in response to The Related Press.
Singabakho Nxumalo, a spokesperson for the correctional providers, stated in an announcement that Pistorius’ participation within the victim-offender dialogue equates to neither an finish of sentence nor parole.
NBC Information has appraoched Pistorius’ lawyer Julian Knight for remark. Knight stated final 12 months that he believed his consumer had met the necessities for early launch and had been a “mannequin prisoner.”
Reuters and Related Press contributed.
