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Original Post By Ekemini Ekwere | Staff Writer The Trent
Oscar Pistorius pictured in court.
On the 49th day of Oscar Pistorius’s prison sentence for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, the court in South Africa reconvened to decide whether his conviction and jail term can be appealed.
After hearing submissions from the prosecution and the defence, Judge Thokozile Masipa says prosecutors cannot pursue appeal against five-year sentence for the culpable homicide of Reeva Steenkamp.
The judge has given the state leave to appeal against Pistorius’s acquittal on the charge of murder.
But the state was not given permission to appeal against the five-year sentence imposed, nor against the acquittal on the charge of possessing illegal ammunition.
While the athlete did not attend court himself, the key figures from his murder trial – Judge Masipa, lawyers Gerrie Nel for the prosecution and Barry Roux for the defence – all returned to the same Pretoria courtroom for the hearing.