SAfrica suspends release of Oscar Pistorius

South Africa has put the release of Paralympian Oscar Pistorius on hold, saying a decision to free him on Friday after serving only 10 months in prison for killing his girlfriend had been premature.
Justice Minister Michael Masutha said in a surprise statement today that the June decision to allow Pistorius to serve out the remainder of his five-year sentence under house arrest had "no legal basis" and was suspended pending a parole board review.
The 28-year-old athlete was convicted in October of culpable homicide -- a charge equivalent to manslaughter -- over the killing of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day in 2013, but prosecutors have appealed, seeking a murder conviction instead.

Today's announcement comes on the very day Steenkamp, a model and law graduate, would have celebrated her 32nd birthday.
"It is apparent... That the decision to release him on 21 August 2015 was made prematurely on 5 June 2015, when the offender was not eligible to be considered at all," Masutha said in a statement.
"The earlier decision of the CSPB (the Correctional Supervision and Parole Board) to place the offender under correctional supervision is suspended until the Parole Review Board has decided on the matter," the statement said.

It was not immediately clear when the review board would meet and justice ministry officials were tight-lipped.

"It will depend on how and when the review board is going to hear the matter," ministry spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga told ENCA news channel, refusing to speculate about the possible date of his release.
Steenkamp's parents June and Barry had been outraged by the idea of Pistorius's release so early.
During his high-profile and often emotional trial, Pistorius did not dispute that he shot Steenkamp four times through a locked toilet door in his upmarket Pretoria home in the early hours of February 14, 2013.
But he says he mistook her for an intruder.
Prosecutors however insist that he deliberately killed her after an argument, and this week appealed the culpable homicide verdict.

If they win their case, which is expected to be heard in November, Pistorius could face at least 15 years in jail.
He began serving his five-year sentence in October 2014 and will have served a sixth of it by August 21.
But the justice ministry said the initial release decision should not have been taken before he had actually served out that 10-month period.
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.