The South African prison authorities have initiated the first procedural steps to evaluate the granting of probation to Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius,
in prison for the murder of his girlfriend
.
It was learned from an official and a lawyer.
The athlete killed his girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp, on the morning of Valentine's Day 2013 by shooting four times through the bathroom door.
He was sentenced to 13 years in prison for the murder
he always denied, saying he was convinced a thief had broken into his
ultra-secure
home
in Pretoria.
In July Pistorius, now 34,
served half of his sentence
, the minimum required to consider probation, confirmed Tania Koen, a lawyer for the Steenkamp family.
Which "does not mean that he automatically has the right to be released," he stressed.
Prison services have scheduled
preliminary interviews with Reeva Steenkamp's parents
, as required by the procedure, which have been postponed to a later date due to the lack of certain requirements.
Before any probation, they are required to have a dialogue with the victim or his family, but also with the detainee.
We are also awaiting the "necessary reports" from the psychologist and social workers in contact with the detainee.