Oscar Pistorius' family
criticized South African authorities on Tuesday for delays in
deciding whether he should be released from jail and moved to
house arrest, saying his rights were being "undermined"
because of the publicity surrounding his case.
The family also reacted to a parole officials'
recommendation that the double-amputee runner undergo
psychotherapy, saying he was already receiving "regular and
ongoing" psychotherapy from both his personal and prison
psychologists.
The Pistorius family spoke out in a written statement after
his early release - which had been granted in June - was
canceled Monday and ordered to be reconsidered.
Pistorius was approved to be released on August 21 after
serving 10 months of his five-year manslaughter sentence for
killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
In a fairly common procedure in South Africa for offenders
sentenced to five years or less, he would have been moved from
jail after one-sixth of the sentence to serve the remainder
under correctional supervision at home.
But the justice minister intervened two days before
Pistorius was to leave jail and ordered a review on a legal
technicality, saying the parole board met two months too
early.
After a seven-week delay, officials reviewing Pistorius'
case on Monday sent it back to that original parole
board to consider all over again.
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