Oscar Pistorius was sentenced to six years in jail for murder earlier in July, after appealing his five year sentence for manslaughter from 2014. No one seems happy with this outcome.
The BBC reports that an application for a leave to appeal was filed on Thursday by South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority. In a statement, they said that the six year sentence for murder was an embarrassment and could bring the justice system into “disrepute.” And:
We hope that this appeal will also clarify further the principles of sentencing, particularly in crime categories for which there are prescribed minimum sentences ordained by legislation.
Prosecutors had originally sought a fifteen year sentence for Pistorius, and believe that six years is incredibly lenient. They attribute Judge Thokozile Masipa’s decisions to the influence of Pistorius’s celebrity and wealth. Judge Masipa, on the other hand, attributed her decision to the defendant’s appearance of rehabilitation and remorse. She also doesn’t seem to think a longer sentence would be appropriate, saying, “Public opinion may be loud and persistent but it can play no role in the decision of this court.”
The parents of Reeva Steenkamp say that they support the prosecutors, but are now focusing on starting a charitable foundation in their daughter’s name.