Disgraced Paralympian Oscar Pistorius, has taken his fight for his freedom to South Africa’s Constitutional Court, with his lawyers decrying the process that led to the prolonging of his incarceration as an infringement on his fundamental rights.
Pistorius, who has had various appeals for parole rejected over the years, saw the latest one fall flat in February, when the Supreme Court of Appeal decided that he was not yet eligible.
Steenkamp’s parents, June and Barry, had opposed an early release, saying they did not believe the former athlete had told the truth about what happened and he had not shown remorse.
Once the darling of South Africa’s sporting fraternity, Pistorius is currently serving a 15-year prison sentence for the 2013 murder of his model girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, who he shot through the bathroom door of his Pretoria East home on Valentine’s Day that year.
In papers filed at the constitutional court, Pistorius’ legal representatives are now arguing that he has now spent enough time behind bars, with the period of his incarceration unfairly increased.
According to his lawyers, Pistorius’ situation was “clearly incorrect” and “untenable” and “leads to [his] incarceration without just cause”, which he further maintains “is an infringement of [his] … fundamental rights”.
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