Pistorius granted bail by magistrate
Reuters
2013-02-22
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A South African court granted bail on Friday to Oscar Pistorius, charged with the murder of his girlfriend, after his lawyers argued the "Blade Runner" was too famous to pose a flight risk.
The decision by Magistrate Desmond Nair drew cheers from the athlete's family and supporters, although he appeared unmoved. Pistorius had broken down in tears earlier in the week-long hearing.
"That the accused has, in this instance, offered a version under oath at a very early stage, and I do not attach any weight to the investigating officers concessions with regard to the defence version, but the fact remains ordinarily one gets flimsy affidavits merely saying I deny the allegations, I will not flee. But in this instance the accused has reached out to try to meet the state case. Of course against the background of those improbabilities that I have seen and mentioned, that reaching out in the affidavit, in the way that he died, placing it before the court, together with the fact that none of the factors that need to be established have been established, I've come to the conclusion that, the accused has made a case to be released on bail," he said.
The court set bail at 1 million rand ($113,000) and postponed the case until June 4.
Pistorius was ordered to hand over firearms and passports, avoid his home and all witnesses in the case, report to a police station twice a week and not to drink alcohol.
The decision followed a week of dramatic testimony about how the athlete shot dead Reeva Steenkamp at his luxury home near Pretoria in the early hours of Feb. 14, Valentine's Day.
A South African court granted bail on Friday to Oscar Pistorius, charged with the murder of his girlfriend, after his lawyers argued the "Blade Runner" was too famous to pose a flight risk.
The decision by Magistrate Desmond Nair drew cheers from the athlete's family and supporters, although he appeared unmoved. Pistorius had broken down in tears earlier in the week-long hearing.
"That the accused has, in this instance, offered a version under oath at a very early stage, and I do not attach any weight to the investigating officers concessions with regard to the defence version, but the fact remains ordinarily one gets flimsy affidavits merely saying I deny the allegations, I will not flee. But in this instance the accused has reached out to try to meet the state case. Of course against the background of those improbabilities that I have seen and mentioned, that reaching out in the affidavit, in the way that he died, placing it before the court, together with the fact that none of the factors that need to be established have been established, I've come to the conclusion that, the accused has made a case to be released on bail," he said.
The court set bail at 1 million rand ($113,000) and postponed the case until June 4.
Pistorius was ordered to hand over firearms and passports, avoid his home and all witnesses in the case, report to a police station twice a week and not to drink alcohol.
The decision followed a week of dramatic testimony about how the athlete shot dead Reeva Steenkamp at his luxury home near Pretoria in the early hours of Feb. 14, Valentine's Day.
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