Oscar Pistorius: Former Olympic and Paralympic athlete faces parole hearing with early release considered

Oscar Pistorius faces a parole hearing that will decide if he will be freed from prison, almost 10 years after he shot and killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

The former Olympic and Paralympic athlete, known as Blade Runner, has applied for parole and could be freed within weeks after serving half of his 13-year-five-month sentence.

A parole board, which will start its hearing on Friday, must determine if Pistorius will be allowed to serve the remainder of his sentence on licence at his uncle's home in South African capital city, Pretoria.

A spokesperson for the Department of Correctional Services said: "The board must determine whether the purpose of imprisonment has been served."

A decision is expected to be announced in days or weeks.

Steenkamp's family oppose his parole bid and will give verbal and written statements at the hearing on the impact the murder had on them, their lawyer Tania Koen told Reuters.

Arriving at Atteridgeville prison near the capital Pretoria on Friday morning, Reeva's mother June Steenkamp said she was feeling nervous.

"It's going to be very hard to be in the same room as him," she said.

A prison spokesperson confirmed the closed-door parole board meeting was under way.

During a televised trial in 2014, Pistorius told the court he had believed Steenkamp was an intruder when he shot her several times through the bathroom door with ammunition designed to inflict maximum damage to the human body.

He was jailed in 2016, initially for a six-year term, but had this sentence increased to 13 years after an appeal by prosecutors who argued the initial sentence was too lenient.

Pistorius became eligible for parole after serving half of his sentence.

He met Steenkamp's father Barry last year when participating in a process known as victim-offender dialogue - part of South Africa's restorative justice programme that brings parties affected by a crime together in a bid to achieve closure.

The independent parole board must determine, among other issues, whether Pistorius is at risk of committing similar crimes in the future, prison spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said.

It will also consider his disciplinary record, training programmes in prison and his physical and mental state, prison officials said.

Pistorius' lawyer, Julian Knight, told Reuters he was not in a "position to comment until such time as the Parole Board has made a decision".