PRETORIA, (Reuters) – Oscar Pistorius, who murdered his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day 2013, was granted bail yesterday and has the freedom of South Africa’s capital Pretoria as he waits to appeal his conviction in April.
The Paralympic champion, nicknamed “Blade Runner” because of the prosthetic legs he uses to race, was granted bail of 10,000 rand ($686), after spending the last two months under house arrest at his uncle’s home in a wealthy Pretoria suburb.
Pistorius had been meant to serve the rest of a five-year sentence there but the Supreme Court upgraded the 29-year-old’s conviction to murder from culpable homicide last week. He will appear in court on April 18 to give an update on his appeal at the constitutional court.
He faces a minimum 15-year sentence for shooting Steenkamp in a case that has fascinated and divided South Africa, a country beset by high levels of violent crime.
Rights groups say the white track star has received preferential treatment.
Yesterday, South African High Court Judge Aubrey Ledwaba said Pistorius could leave the house between 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) and noon and, with permission from the authorities, travel within a radius of 20km (12 miles).
