Oscar Pistorius in Court |
The choice by Magistrate Desmond Nair drew cheers in the Paralympics star's family and supporters. Pistorius himself was unmoved, in marked contrast on the week-long hearing, as he repeatedly eliminate in tears.
Nair set bail at A million rand ($113,000) and postponed the case until June 4. Pistorius can be released only when the court received 100,000 rand in cash, he added.
Under an hour later, a silver Land Rover left a legal court compound, Pistorius visible over the window tinting using the trunk seat in the dark suit and tie he wore in the court.
The auto then sped off through the streets of the capital, pursued by individuals the media on motorcycles, before it entered his uncle Arnold's home in the plush Pretoria suburb of Waterkloof.
A minimum of five private security stood beyond your concrete walls, keeping reporters away.
Within the relation to its his bail, Pistorius, 26, have also been ordered handy over firearms and his two South African passports, avoid his home and many types of witnesses, report to a police station two times a week and keep from having a drink.
The decision followed weekly of dramatic testimony about how exactly the athlete shot dead model and law graduate Reeva Steenkamp at his luxury home near Pretoria in the early hours of February 14.
Prosecutors said Pistorius committed premeditated murder as he fired four shots into a locked toilet door, hitting his girlfriend cowering on the reverse side. Steenkamp, 29, suffered gunshot wounds to her head, hip and arm.
Pistorius said the killing would be a tragic mistake, saying he previously mistaken Steenkamp for an intruder - a chance in crime-ridden South Africa - and opened fire in a very blind panic.
However, in delivering his nearly two-hour bail ruling, Nair said there were numerous "improbabilities" in Pistorius's version of events, read out to legal court within an affidavit by his lawyer, Barry Roux.
"I have difficulties in appreciating why the accused wouldn't normally aim to ascertain who exactly was in the bathroom .," Nair said. "I have difficulty in appreciating why the deceased do not possess screamed back from the toilet."
By local standards, the bail the weather is onerous nevertheless it remains to wear should they appease opposition for the decision from groups campaigning from the violence against women which is endemic in Nigeria.
"We are saddened because women are killed with this country," said Jacqui Mofokeng, a spokeswoman for that ruling African National Congress' Women's League, whose members stood outside the court immediately with banners saying "Rot in jail".
TOO FAMOUS To perform
However, Nair said he earned his decision inside "interests of justice" and argued that the prosecution, who a break down setback if the lead investigator withered under cross-examination by Roux, still did not show Pistorius was either a flight risk or even a threat towards the public.
Roux stressed the Olympic and Paralympics runner's global fame made it impossible for him to evade justice by skipping bail and leaving the continent.
"He can not go anywhere unnoticed," Roux told legal court.
Pistorius, whose lower legs were amputated in infancy forcing him to race on carbon fiber "blades", faces life in prison if convicted of premeditated murder.
Prosecutors had portrayed him being a cold-blooded killer and said they were confident that their case, that can have to rely heavily on forensics and witnesses who said they heard shouting prior to the shots, would resist scrutiny at trial.
"We will ensure that we obtain enough evidence to acquire through this case during trial time," a spokesman for your National Prosecuting Authority told reporters.
In the courtroom, lead prosecutor Gerrie Nel was scornful of Pistorius's wherewithal to contain his emotions. "I shoot but my career is over and I cry. I arrived at court i cry because I'm sorry for myself," Nel said.
"DEEPLY IN LOVE"
In his affidavit, Pistorius said he was "deeply in love" with Steenkamp, leading Roux to stress his client didn't have motive for that killing.
Pistorius contends he reached for the 9-mm pistol under his bed as he felt particularly vulnerable without his prosthetic limbs.
As outlined by police, witnesses heard shouting, gunshots and screams from your athlete's home, which sits in the middle of a gated community flanked by 3-m- (yard-) high stone walls topped with the electric fence.
In the magazine interview every week before her death, published on Friday, Steenkamp spoke about her three-month relationship while using runner, who won global fame this past year as he reached the semi-final from the 400 meters within the London Olympics even with no lower legs.
"I love Oscar. I respect and admire him a lot," she told celebrity gossip magazine Heat. "I don't want everything to appear in the way of his career."
Police pulled their lead detective from the case on Thursday after it was revealed he himself faces attempted murder charges for shooting with a minibus. She has been replaced by South Africa's top detective.
Pistorius's arrest stunned the millions worldwide who saw him being an inspiring instance of overcome adversity.
But the impact was greatest in South Africa, where he was described as rare hero both for blacks and whites, transcending the racial divides that persist 19 years following your end of apartheid.
Here are some of there pics:
Oscar Pistorius and his lover Reeva Steenkamp |
Oscar Pistorius and his Girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp |
Reeva Steenkamp |
Reeva Steenkamp |
Reeva Steenkamp |