Oscar Pistorius granted bail after murder conviction

Judges last week found him guilty of murder and overturned his earlier conviction on the lesser charge of culpable homicide for shooting dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp

Convicted murderer, South African Olympic and Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius, centre, arriving at the Pretoria high court to apply for bail after having been charged with murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day 2013. Kim Ludbrook/EPA

Pretoria // Former Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius was released on bail on Tuesday, as he vowed to appeal against his murder conviction for shooting dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013.

South African judges last week found him guilty of murder and overturned his earlier conviction on the lesser charge of culpable homicide for killing Steenkamp, a model and law graduate.

Pistorius, 29, appeared relaxed at the bail hearing in the Pretoria high court. He was released from jail in October to live under house arrest at his uncle’s house in Pretoria after serving one year of his five-year prison sentence for culpable homicide – the equivalent of manslaughter.

Under the new conviction for murder, he faces a minimum 15-year jail term that may be reduced due to time already spent in jail and because he is a first-time offender.

“The applicant is released on bail of 10,000 rand (Dh2,520),” judge Aubrey Ledwaba said, adding Pistorius would remain under house arrest.

Mr Ledwaba said Pistorius would be electronically monitored to track his location, but would be allowed to leave the house at set times with official permission.

The court will meet again on April 18 to seek an update on whether Pistorius’s appeal to the constitutional court, South Africa’s highest court, has been accepted.

* Agence France-Presse