Former Paralympic champion Oscar
Pistorius was released on bail Tuesday, as he vowed to appeal against
his murder conviction for shooting dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp
in 2013.
South African judges last week found him
guilty of murder and overturned his earlier conviction on the lesser
charge of culpable homicide for killing Steenkamp, a model and law
graduate.
Pistorius, 29, wearing a dark suit,
white shirt and black tie, appeared relaxed at the bail hearing in the
Pretoria High Court, chatting with his legal team before standing in the
dock to hear the judge’s ruling.
He was released from jail in October to
live under house arrest at his uncle’s house in Pretoria after serving
one year of his five-year prison sentence for culpable homicide — the
equivalent of manslaughter.
Under the new conviction for murder, he
faces a minimum 15-year jail term that may be reduced due to time
already spent in jail and as he is a first-time offender.
“The applicant is released on bail of
10,000 rand ($690),” judge Aubrey Ledwaba said, adding Pistorius would
remain under house arrest.
Ledwaba said Pistorius would be
electronically monitored to track his location, but would be allowed to
leave the house at set times with official permission.
The court will meet again on April 18 to
seek an update on whether Pistorius’s appeal to the Constitutional
Court, South Africa’s highest court, has been accepted.
Pistorius’s bail application Tuesday
outlined the basis of his bid to go to the Constitutional Court after
the murder conviction by the Supreme Court of Appeal last week.
“(It) impermissibly reconsidered the
factual finding made by the trial Court that I genuinely and honestly
believed that my life and that of the deceased were in danger when I
discharged the shots,” he argued.
Pistorius spoke in court only to calmly say “I do” when asked whether he made his bail application voluntarily.
No date was announced for his re-sentencing.
A lawyer for Steenkamp’s family told AFP
that they “understand it is his constitutional right to (appeal), but
believe it is a delaying tactic as they do believe that he is guilty of
murder.”
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