The parole application for Oscar Pistorius, a former paralympic champion who was imprisoned in 2016 for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, was rejected.
June Steenkamp, Reeva’s mother, showed up to the hearing on Friday to voice her opposition.
It’s going to be really difficult to be in the same room as him, she told reporters as she was being brought inside Atteridgeville prison.
I don’t believe what he’s saying.
She added: ‘He’s not remorseful or rehabilitated.’
Pistorius, a double-amputee who made history competing against able-bodied athletes at the 2012 Olympics, was convicted of murder for the Valentine’s Day 2013 shooting of Ms Steenkamp.
He has always claimed he shot his girlfriend in error after mistaking her for a dangerous intruder, saying he didn’t realise that she had got out of bed and went to the bathroom.
But her parents, Barry and June, have said they still believe he killed her intentionally in anger in a late-night argument.
Pistorius shot Ms Steenkamp, a model and reality TV star, several times through the bathroom door with ammunition designed to inflict maximum damage to the human body.
Now 36, he was ultimately sentenced to 13 years and five months in prison for murder in 2017 after a series of appeals in his case.
He was eligible for parole after having served half his sentence.
Tania Koen, the lawyer for Ms Steenkamp’s parents, said time ‘hasn’t healed’ their grief, adding: ‘For them, it’s 10 missed birthdays, 10 Mother’s Days, 10 Father’s Days, 10 Christmases.’