Parole Board Grants Oscar Pistorius' Request for House Arrest 

Two months after a judge put a hold on his release from prison, a parole board has granted Oscar Pistorius’ request for house arrest. He served 12 months of a five-year sentence shooting death of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. He’ll spend the remainder of his sentence on what’s termed “correctional supervision.”

CNN reports that the parole board approved Pistorius’ request to be moved to house arrest next Tuesday. He was originally scheduled to be released from prison and into house arrest in August before Justice Minister Michael Masutha decided he may have been approved too soon and referred his case back to the parole board.

In a statement to CNN, the parole board subtly insisted that they weren’t just freeing Pistorius because he’s wealthy and famous, noting that he’ll have to undergo psychotherapy and follow a prohibition against owning firearms:

“The parole board considered all submissions, including the offender’s profile report, the directives of the Parole Review Board and the submission of the victim’s family,” the statement said.

“The Parole Board has also given the offender his correctional supervision conditions which include the directives of the Parole Review Board in respect of continued psychotherapy and prohibitions in line with the Fire Arms Control Act Section 103,” it said.

Pistorius shot Steenkamp in the head and arm through the bathroom door of their home. He claimed that he believed her to be an intruder. Several reports indicate that he’ll serve his house arrest at his uncle’s mansion in Waterkloof, a wealthy suburb of Pretoria.

In a statement, Steenkamp’s family lawyer Tania Koen told CNN said they were unsurprised Pistorius is being granted house arrest: “Nothing has changed for June and Barry, nothing will bring Reeva back. They are not surprised at all by this announcement. They expected this.”

Image via AP.