South Africa won’t punish Oscar Pistorius with a proverbial slap on the wrist.
The country’s supreme court announced Friday it has more than doubled the celebrated sprinter’s prison sentence to 13 years and five months, according to The Associated Press. Pistorius, who killed his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, by multiple gunshots on Valentine’s Day in 2013 at his home in South Africa, had been serving a six-year sentence, but the court determined the punishment was “shockingly lenient” and changed his sentence following an appeal by the prosecution.
“They feel there has been justice for Reeva,” Steenkamp’s family lawyer Tania Koen told The Associated Press. “She can now rest in peace. But at the same time, people must realize that people think this is the end of the road for them. … The fact is, they still live with Reeva’s loss every day.”
Trial judge Thokozile Masipa originally convicted Pistorius of manslaughter, but the Supreme Court overruled the decision in 2015 and convicted him of murder. Masipa then sentenced him to six years in prison, but the Supreme Court has intervened again, partly due to his lack of remorse.
“The sentence of six years’ imprisonment is shockingly lenient to a point where it has the effect of trivializing this serious offence,” justice Willie Seriti said in the court’s full written ruling.
Pistorius was a multiple Paralympic champion and record-breaking sprinter who became the first amputee to run at the Olympics in 2012.
He had been scheduled for release in 2019 but now won’t be eligible for parole until 2023 at the earliest.
