South African former professional sprinter and convicted murderer, Oscar Pistorius will be banned from drinking alcohol and talking to the press when he is released on parole on Friday, prison authorities have said.
He is set to leave prison almost 11 years after he shot dead his girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp.
Pistorius, 37, killed Miss Steenkamp, a model, in the early hours of Valentine’s Day 2013, firing four times through the bathroom door of his ultra-secure Pretoria house.
A parole board reviewing whether Pistorius was fit for social reintegration decided at the end of November to allow him out of prison early on January 5.
Statement from official
‘Just like other parolees, Pistorius is restricted from conducting media interviews,’ the Department of correctional services said in a statement.
An elevated public profile linked to Pistorius does not make him different from other inmates nor warrant inconsistent treatment,’ it added.
‘For example, he will be expected to be home at particular hours of the day. He may not consume alcohol or other prohibited substances,’ the prison department said.
What law says
South African law says that all offenders can be considered for parole once half of their sentence has been served.
The former athlete is due to be released on Friday from a prison on the outskirts of Pretoria.
As part of his parole, until the end of his sentence in 2029, Pistorius must undergo therapy for anger and gender-based violence issues.
Charges against him
Pistorius was found guilty of murder and given a jail sentence of 13 years and five months in 2017 after a lengthy trial and several appeals.
He had pleaded not guilty and denied killing Steenkamp in a rage, saying he mistook her for a burglar.
What victim’s mother said
Steenkamp’s mother has previously said she did not believe the ex-athlete was rehabilitated and said she did not think he had told the truth about what happened.
South Africa’s Department of Correctional Services (DCS) said in November that Pistorius will complete the remainder of his sentence in the country’s community corrections system.
He will be under the supervision of the DCS and will be subjected to parole conditions until his sentence expires in December 2029.
Pistorius will be assigned a monitoring official, who will have to be kept informed when Pistorius is seeking job opportunities or moving homes.
As part of the conditions, Pistorius will also have to attend programmes on gender-based violence and continue therapy sessions on anger management, a lawyer for the Steenkamp family said shortly after he was granted parole.
He is expected to live in Pretoria.
