Disgraced South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius has been denied early release from prison, ten years after he was convicted of killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
Pistorius, who is serving more than 13 years for her murder, applied for a parole hearing last year, arguing that he had served more than half his sentence.
But on Friday the board, which includes representatives from the prison service, police and civilians, denied his release, according to South Africa’s Department of Correctional Services.
The Paralympic medalist was found guilty of murdering Steenkamp, with a licensed 9mm pistol in 2013 and was originally sentenced to five years in prison.
This sentence was later extended to 13 years and five months by South Africa’s Supreme Court.
Known worldwide as the “Blade Runner” because of his carbon-fibre prosthetics, Pistorius has always claimed he shot his girlfriend in error after mistaking her for a dangerous intruder.
Offenders in South Africa are automatically eligible for parole consideration after serving half of their sentence.
Steenkamp’s parents still believe he is lying about their daughter’s killing and opposed the former Olympic runner’s application for parole, their lawyer said Friday.
“Unless he comes clean, they don’t feel that he is rehabilitated,” lawyer Tania Koen told reporters outside the Atteridgeville Correctional Centre prison in Pretoria, where Pistorius has been incarcerated since 2016 and where his parole hearing took place Friday.
“He’s the killer of their daughter. For them, it’s a life sentence,” Koen said before the hearing.
Pistorius, a double-amputee runner and multiple Paralympic champion who made history by competing against able-bodied athletes at the 2012 Olympics, was convicted for the Valentine’s Day 2013 shooting of Steenkamp at his home.
He said he didn’t realise that she got out of bed and went to the bathroom. But her parents, Barry and June Steenkamp, have said they still believe he killed her intentionally in anger in a late-night argument.
Pistorius fired four shots through a toilet cubicle door in his upscale Pretoria villa at his 29-year-old partner, a model and reality TV star, in the pre-dawn hours of February 14, 2013.
Pistorius, who is now 36, made a series of appeals in his case.
The paralympic star has served more than seven years taking into account time served from late 2014 when his initial manslaughter conviction was overturned after an appeal by the prosecution resulted in a murder conviction. Pistorius is now eligible for parole.
Steenkamp’s mother, June Steenkamp, submitted written and oral statements at Friday’s hearing opposing Pistorius’ application to be released from prison, the parents’ lawyer said. Koen said June Steenkamp addressed the parole board in a separate room from Pistorius.
Koen confirmed that the parole board would make a decision later on Friday.