Oscar Pistorius has been denied parole until the double-amputee Paralympian completes psychotherapy, a South African board decided this week.
Pistorius, 28, is 10 months into a five-year sentence for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in
February 2013, according to The Guardian. The parole panel decided Monday that it would be "premature" to allow him out on house arrest.
"The [parole review board] also directed that the offender be subjected to psychotherapy in order to address criminogenic factors of the crime he committed," the board said in a statement.
Pistorius was found guilty of culpable homicide, a charge in South Africa similar to manslaughter, in the death of Steenkamp after shooting her through a locked bathroom door on Valentine's Day two years ago. The so-called "Blade Runner" claims he mistook his
girlfriend for a burglar, according to the Daily Mail.
Pistorius was scheduled to serve the rest of his term under house arrest in August, but South African Justice Minister Michael Masutha blocked his release at the time, saying that the parole board violated the country's law by setting up the parole terms before Pistorius had served a sixth of his five-year sentence.
Steenkamp's parents, who believe Pistorius murdered their daughter in fit of rage, argued against any kind of early release for Pistorius, the Daily Mail reported.
"How can 10 months be enough? He killed her," June Steenkamp, Reeva Steenkamp's mother, told an Australian television station. "He admits he killed her. She's dead. Why didn't he just let her walk away? Why?"
Pistorius' family, on the other hand, complained this week that the 2012 Olympic runner was not released because of publicity surrounding the
case and not the law, The Associated Press reported.
"This experience leaves us with the uncomfortable conclusion that the public, political and media hype that was allowed to develop around Oscar's trial has undermined his right to be treated like any other prisoner," Pistorius' family said in a statement.
Though the courts had previously approved Pistorius' parole, Monday's decision marked the second consecutive delay of his house arrest release.
"We cannot understand . . . why the matter is now to be referred back to the parole board that has no reason to make a different decision from the one that was made in the first place," the Pistorius family added in its statement.
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