Prosecutors set to appeal Pistorius verdict

Oscar Pistorius

Pretoria, Dec 10 (IANS)

A South African judge Wednesday granted prosecutors the right to appeal against the acquittal of Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius from murder charges.

Pistorius was jailed for five years in October for killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. The double-amputee athlete claimed in his defence that he accidentally shot Steenkamp thinking her to be an intruder in his home here.

Judge Thokozile Masipa said prosecutors could appeal against the decision, but not the five-year sentence given for the lesser charge of culpable homicide.

Pistorius's lawyers had opposed the appeal request. The case will now go before South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal.

"I cannot say... that the prospect of success at the Supreme Court of Appeal is remote," she was quoted as saying by the BBC.

"The application, therefore, in respect of count one is decided in favour of the applicant."