Oscar Pistorius should be jailed for at least 10 years for killing his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, the prosecution said on Friday as the star sprinter’s sensational trial approached its climax.
Slapping down defense claims that the “broke and broken” Olympic athlete had already suffered enough, prosecutor Gerrie Nel said “the minimum that society will be happy with is 10 years imprisonment.”
After hearing final arguments from both the defense and prosecution, Judge Thokozile Masipa scheduled sentencing for Tuesday.
Defense lawyer Barry Roux said Pistorius was not a “cold-blooded killer” and should serve a community-based sentence similar to house arrest without any time in South Africa’s tough prisons.
The defense has suggested that Pistorius’s punishment could include cleaning a museum for 16 hours a month.
Prosecutor Nel earlier described the suggestion as “shockingly disproportionate.”
“Go home, stay in a luxurious house... and he will not leave his house except if he wants to train, work, go to a doctor — that’s what we do every day,” Nel said.
He said the “softly spoken words” of Steenkamp’s cousin Kim Martin, who pleaded with the court to “make Mr Pistorius pay” for what he had done, “trounces” any other testimony.
Pistorius, 27, admitted killing Steenkamp by firing four shots through a locked toilet door in his upmarket Pretoria home on Valentine’s Day last year, but said he believed she was an intruder.
The prosecution pressed hard for a conviction for murder, charging that Pistorius’ claim was improbable and that he had killed the photogenic 29-year-old law graduate after an argument.
However, Judge Masipa acquitted him of murder — provoking widespread controversy — and found him guilty of culpable homicide, for which he could be sentenced to anything from a fine to 15 years in jail.
Pistorius wept in the dock as his lawyer said he had already suffered enough for killing Steenkamp, describing the double-amputee sprinter’s devastating fall from disabled icon and sporting stardom to a loathed criminal.
“He’s lost everything, he was an icon in the eyes of South Africa,” Roux said in a last-ditch bid to keep Pistorious out of jail.
Roux said Pistorius had also lost the woman he loved, “most of his friends” and “all of his immovable properties.”
“He was denigrated to the extent that all that was left was a rage killer, a cold-blooded killer, and everything that was horrible,” Roux said, describing Pistorius as a “victim” of unprecedented malicious media attention.
The trial has been broadcast live around the world, taking on elements of both a soap opera and a reality TV show.
Roux said Pistorius was genuinely remorseful for accidentally killing the woman he loved and would suffer from this for the rest of his life.
“The punishment of the accused immediately commenced after the incident,” Roux said, adding that the “trauma” Pistorius has suffered since shooting Steenkamp is “far more severe than any other criminal punishment.”
Pistorius has argued he is a perfect candidate for house arrest because he is a first-time offender, needs specialized physical and psychological care that he cannot receive in prison, and is tormented by remorse.
Nel asked why a man who had fought for and won the right to compete against able-bodied athletes now argued that his disability should play a significant role in his sentencing.
Acting South African Correctional Services Commissioner Zach Modise testified that South African prisons are able to provide the specialized physical and psychological care Pistorius needs for his rehabilitation while incarcerated.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was