Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius will be released from prison and moved to house arrest on Oct. 20, a South African parole board said Thursday.
The announcement comes after the track champion — who also competed in the London 2012 Olympics — served just one year of his five-year jail sentence for the 2013 culpable homicide of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.
The Kgosi Mampuru prison parole board made the decision Thursday to grant his parole, South Africa's eNCA reported.
#OscarPistorius Here is the full statement from Correctional Services on Pistorius's release:
The decision was confirmed by South Africa's Department of Correctional Services later Thursday.
According to a statement issued by the department, Pistorius will continue to receive psychotherapy and will be subject to firearms prohibitions as part of the terms of his release.
BREAKING #OscarPistorius Reeva Steenkamp’s family’s attorney Tania Koen has confirmed that the athlete will be released on 20 October. BB
The lawyer for the Steenkamp family, Tania Koen, confirmed to a journalist for South Africa's Eyewitness News that the family had been informed of the Oct. 20 release date by the parole board earlier Thursday.
Koen told Eyewitness News: "They just want justice to take its course. We will not be making any further submissions. The original submission that we made to the parole board, we will resubmit."
The family said the prison term served is not appropriate for someone who has taken a life, Eyewitness News reported.
Pistorius shot Steenkamp through the bathroom door of his home on Valentine's Day 2013, but said he had mistaken her for an intruder.
The prosecution appealed the verdict, saying Pistorius should have been convicted of murder instead.