Oscar Pistorius to be released from prison next week

Oscar Pistorius is to be released from prison next week just 12 months into his five-year sentence for shooting dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. The parole board at Kgosi Mampuru II Prison in Pretoria made the decision on Thursday after an initial decision to release the double-amputee runner in August was suspended by the minister of justice.

A statement from South Africa's Department of Corrections said the board "approved the placement of offender Oscar Pistorius under correctional supervision as from 20 October 2015."

Under South African law, an offender sentenced to five years or less in jail can be released after serving one-sixth in Pistorius' case 10 months.

Tania Koen, a lawyer for the Steenkamp family, who have opposed early parole, said: "Nothing is changed in their lives. Reeva is not coming back."

Pistorius was found guilty in September 2014 of culpable homicide, the equivalent of manslaughter, after he fired four 9mm shots through a locked toilet door on Valentine's Day in 2013 killing Steenkamp.

The Paralympian claimed it was a tragic mistake after he thought she was an intruder but was jailed for five years last October. He was acquitted of murder for the shooting of model and law graduate Steenkamp, but prosecutors have appealed that decision and will seek a murder conviction again at South Africa's Supreme Court on November 3.

If Pistorius is convicted of murder by a panel of judges at that appeal, he faces a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison.

On Tuesday he will be moved to correctional supervision, a form of house arrest where he will have to live under certain conditions.

Full details of the conditions were not detailed by the corrections department, although it did say that Pistorius would have to continue receiving psychotherapy while under house arrest and would not be allowed to possess a firearm.

The 28-year-old is expected to serve his house arrest at his uncle's home in an upmarket suburb of Pretoria.