Oscar Pistorius one step away from parole after six years in prison, the hearing on Friday

The South African athlete Oscar Pistoriuswho is serving a prison sentence for the murder of his girlfriend, the model Reeva Steenkamp, he will appear at a hearing on Friday in which a committee will consider granting him parole. The appointment at the Kgosi Mampuru II penitentiary center in Pretoria should be held behind closed doors. The commission, which includes representatives of the prison service, the police and civilians, will decide whether the Paralympic champion is eligible for parole after serving half of his 15-year prison sentence. “A minimum period of detention that an inmate must serve is a milestone in the rehabilitation process of those in our care,” a spokesman for South Africa’s Department of Correctional Services explained in October. Singabakho Nxumalo. “It’s necessary to be considered for parole, a step that needs to be done at the right time.”

The commission’s decision is expected in the next few days. Pistorius last year petitioned the Pretoria High Court, arguing that he had served more than half of his sentence for Steenkamp’s murder. Under South African law, convicts serving half their sentences are eligible for parole. The athlete claimed that he did everything in his power to rehabilitate himself and show total repentance. In the trial that attracted worldwide media attention, the first sentence in October 2014 was five years’ imprisonment for manslaughter, while in November 2015 the South African High Court of Appeal overturned the conviction of the athlete and found him guilty of murder, remanding the case to the lower court for a new conviction. Issued in July 2016, when the magistrate Masipa sentenced him to thirteen years in prison and five months for murder.