Thursday 28 March 2013

Oscar Pistorius Granted Permission To Travel Out Of South Africa To Compete


Pistorius will be able to travel out of the country to compete, the court ruled on Thursday afternoon, and he has also been freed from supervision, meaning he can regain a measure of privacy. 

Lawyers for the Olympic and Paralympic athlete had appealed against some of his bail restrictions on Thursday, saying he might eventually need to return to track competition to earn money.
They argued their client, who is charged with premeditated murder after shooting his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp dead on 14 Februrary, was being treated as a flight risk even though a magistrate ruled last month that he was not when he released the double-amputee runner on bail.

Pistorius was not insensitive to the seriousness of the charges against him, defence advocate Barry Roux argued, and did not want to "jump on a plane and travel outside this country" or have "a nice holiday in Mauritius". But if the opportunity arose to compete, he said, Pistorius would want to travel "under controlled circumstances".


The court has, however, imposed conditions on Pistorius should he wish to travel. He must provide authorities with his travel plans at least a week before he leaves the country, and must return his passport to the court within 24 hours of returning to South Africa, but these conditions have been set aside by the North Gauteng high court in Pretoria.

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