South Africa's Pistorius Goes Free on $113,000 Bail

A South African court granted Oscar Pistorius bail ahead of his trial after his lawyers successfully argued the "Blade Runner" was too famous to flee.

Published

3 months ago

Categories

World, Sports

Topics

Legal, Africa, Sports

People

Deborah Gembara, Oscar Pistorius, Reeva Steenkamp, Arnold Pistorius, Desmond Nair

Places

South Africa, Pretoria

Transcript

South African athlete Oscar Pistorius has been granted bail ahead of his trial for the murder of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Pistorius' family and supporters just after the announcement. Pistorius' reaction wasn't clear -- the South African athlete looked down as Magistrate Desmond Nair read his decision. "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 defense 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 .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." His uncle Arnold Pistorius. SOUNDBITE: Arnold Pistorius saying: "Yes we are relieved by the fact that Oscar got bail today, but at the same time we are in mourning the death of Reeva with her family. The court set bail at $113,000 . Pistorius was ordered to hand over his firearms and passports, and to avoid his home and all witnesses in the case. He'll also have to report to a police station twice a week and refrain from alcohol. The trial for the paralympic star known worldwide as the Blade Runner is expected to start in June.