The
world's most famous Paralympic athlete, Oscar Pistorus is due to be sentenced for the murder of
his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.
He arrives in a South African court on Wednesday, one thing seems certain: It's the last day Pistorius will be a free man for a long time.
Barring
an appeal, it will be the final chapter of a saga that began on a fateful
February morning in 2013 when Pistorius fired four bullets through his
bathroom door, killing Steenkamp and that has transfixed South Africans ever since.
The
amputee track star said he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder and feared for his
life when he shot through the door. The prosecution said Pistorius had a
violent streak, and that he murdered his lover after a late-night argument.
After a
nearly 50-day trial stretched over seven months, Pistorius was found guilty of
culpable homicide (much like manslaughter) in September 2014. Judge Thokozile
Masipa ruled the sprinter had acted negligently when he shot Steenkamp, but
that he didn't do it intentionally, and sentenced him to five
years in prison.
But the
Supreme Court of Appeals overturned the verdict last December. The appeals
judge said Pistorius should have known that firing his gun would have killed
whoever was behind the door, regardless of who he thought it was -- and found
Pistorius guilty of murder.
The
minimum prison sentence in South Africa for murder is 15 years, and the
prosecution has called for no less. But the defense has tried to secure a
shorter sentence for Pistorius by arguing that his disability and emotional
state were mitigating factors.
The world should be rid of these kinda monsters...15years is nothing. Its unbelievably small and a blatant disregard for the lives of people. So if i were to murder someone i would just serve 15years?popostrous #BlissMe.
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