Oscar Pistorius in court. Photograph courtesy of Al Jazeera
South African Paralympics star Oscar Pistorius, who faces murder charges over the tragic shooting of his model girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, has been granted bail after a four-day hearing.
Magistrate Desmond Nair set bail at 1m rand (&72,000), saying that the state had not made a case that Pistorius would flee, or that he had a violent character. The athlete denies murder and claims that he shot Reeva Steenkamp thinking that she was an intruder in his home.
He was ordered to hand over his passport, avoid his home in Pretoria, and report to a police station every weekday morning until the date of the hearing, which was set for June 4th.
The magistrate took nearly two hours to deliver his judgement during which he criticised the testimony of detective Hilton Botha, as well as expressing his difficulty in grasping why Pistorius opened fire the way he did. He did say that Pistorius at an early stage had “reached out to meet the state’s case” and give his full version of events, which helped his case for bail.
