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The South African Olympic and Paralympic athlete got off with less than half of South Africa’s mandatory minimum prison sentence for murder.

From The Guardian:

Oscar Pistorius, the South African Olympic and Paralympic athlete who killed his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, by firing four bullets through a closed toilet door, has been sentenced to a lower than expected six years in prison.

The sentence, given by Judge Thokozile Masipa in the high court in Pretoria, may be the final chapter in a story that attracted intense worldwide attention.

Pistorius, who gained global fame when he reached the semi-finals of the 200m sprint at the 2012 Olympics in London, was taken down to cells immediately after the sentencing at 10.30am on Wednesday.

The former athlete showed little emotion, but looked relieved. His family made no immediate statement.

The sentence was much lower than many had expected and public prosectors had demanded the mandatory minimum for murder of 15 years.

Read more.

— Posted by Natasha Hakimi Zapata

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