Pretoria (AFP) - South African
prosecutors have filed an appeal calling for Paralympian star Oscar
Pistorius to be convicted of murder for killing his girlfriend -- just
days before he is due to be released from prison.
Pistorius has
spent less than a year behind bars since being convicted in a
sensational trial on the lesser charge of culpable homicide, and is
expected to leave jail on Friday for a form of house arrest.
But
the 28-year-old could soon be back in prison if prosecutors are
successful in their argument in the appeal court filed Monday that he
should have been convicted of murder rather than culpable homicide -- a
charge equivalent to manslaughter.
If they win their case, which is expected to be heard in November, Pistorius could face at least 15 years in jail.
The
athlete -- known as the "Blade Runner" for the prosthetic legs he wears
on the track -- won international fame after racing against able-bodied
competitors in the 2012 London Olympics, and his trial was broadcast
live around the world.
"I
think the chances are pretty good that the appeals court will rule in favor of the state and overturn the verdict," said Ulrich Roux, a
criminal lawyer in Johannesburg.
"He is faced with the unusual
circumstance that he's released on house arrest and then the court could
find him guilty of murder and he’ll have to return to prison."
Pistorius
does not dispute that he shot model and law graduate Reeva Steenkamp
four times through a locked toilet door in his Pretoria home in the
early hours of the Valentine's Day in 2013.
But
he said he mistook the 29-year-old for an intruder. Prosecutors insist
that he deliberately killed the her after an argument.
They are appealing both the judgement and the sentence, calling the five-year jail term "shockingly light".
Prosecutors
argue in the appeal papers that even based on the athlete's own version
of events, Pistorius "knew there was a person behind the closed door"
and "deliberately fired shots into the door".
"The only conceivable finding...
should be that he intended to kill the person in the cubicle," they
say, adding that Pistorius' evidence "can never be found to be
reasonably possible".
The athlete's defense team has until September 17 to file its response.
- 'He's going to disappear' -
South
African correctional services officials have indicated that Pistorius
has been a good inmate and qualifies for house arrest -- a routine
procedure in South Africa.
"He's
not out on parole on the 21st August, he's having his sentence
converted to a house arrest sentence," said David Dadic, a criminal
lawyer based in Johannesburg.
"He's
now confined to a house for a period until he's actually on parole,"
said Dadic. "They'll confine him essentially to what he would be doing
in prison but in the confines of his own house."
He may have to wear an electronic tag and undergo some kind of community service.
While
there is speculation that Pistorius will serve his house arrest at his
wealthy Uncle Arnold's house -- a mansion in a posh Pretoria suburb --
there is a possibility the athlete will ask to serve his sentence in a
different location, away from the glare of the media.
"I
think he's going to come out very quietly, and very discreetly and he’s
going to disappear and stay off the radar," said lawyer Martin Hood.
Steenkamp's family has expressed dismay at his imminent release.
"Incarceration of 10 months for taking a life is simply not enough," Steenkamp's parents Barry and June said in a statement.
"We fear that this will not send out the proper message and serve as the deterrent it should."