Oscar Pistorius granted bail on murder conviction

Tom Webber

Oscar Pistorius granted bail on murder conviction image

Oscar Pistorius' application for bail after being convicted of murdering girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp has been accepted.

Pistorius was initially charged with the culpable homicide of Steenkamp, whom he killed by firing shots through a locked bathroom door in February 2013, and was handed a five-year jail term.

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The Paralympic gold medalist was released on house arrest this October after serving one year of his sentence. South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal overruled his initial conviction, changing it to murder, which carries a minimum jail sentence of 15 years.

Pistorius' returned to court for a bail hearing Tuesday, with judge Aubrey Ledwaba accepting the defense's request for the South African to remain under house arrest, with permission to leave the house every day between 7 a.m. and 12 p.m. unrevoked.

"He has proved he is not a flight risk," the judge said. "I have seriously considered part of the agreement between defense and the state that the applicant should not leave the house at all should bail be granted. I am of the view that it would not be in the interest of justice that the applicant should not leave the house at all."

Pistorius can only travel within a 20-kilometer radius of his uncle's home, where he is staying under house arrest, and will be electronically tagged.

The 29-year-old will appeal his murder conviction with the constitutional court.

 

Tom Webber