Pistorius takes murder sentence to Constitutional Court

19 Décembre 2017

Cape Town, South Africa, December 19 (Infosplusgabon) - Former Paralympian Oscar Pistorius has filed papers at the Constitutional Court - South Africa's highest court - appealing his 13-year sentence for murder.

The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in Bloemfontein last month sentenced the doiuble-amputee to 13 years and five months in prison for the 2013 murder of his girlfriend, Reeve Steenkamp.

On Valentine's Day in 2013, Pistorius fatally shot her in his Pretoria home. He claimed he had mistaken Steenkamp for an intruder hiding in the bathroom, but he was arrested and charged with murder.

He was found guilty of culpable homicide the following year and received a five-year prison sentence.

However, prosecutors asked the sentencing judge for permission to appeal the verdict.

Permission was granted in December, and the case was presented to a five-person panel at the Supreme Court of Appeal.

In December 2015, that court overturned the culpable homicide verdict and convicted him of murder. Judge Thokozile Masipa then extended Pistorius' sentence to six years' imprisonment for murder.

However, the State subsequently argued that the sentence was “shockingly inappropriate” and that he should have been handed the minimum term of 15 years behind bars.

He is serving his sentence at the Atteridgeville Correctional Services Centre in Pretoria.

FIN/INFOSPLUSGABON/IUY/ GABON 2017

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