JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africaâs Constitutional Court has dismissed an application by paralympic gold medallist Oscar Pistorius to appeal his sentence for murdering his girlfriend, legal documents showed on Monday.
Pistorious was initially jailed for six years for shooting dead Reeva Steenkamp, but prosecutors argued that sentence had been âshockingly lenientâ and an appeal court agreed in November to more than double the term to 15 years.
âThe Constitutional Court has considered the application for condonation and leave to appeal. It has concluded that … the application for leave to appeal should be dismissed as it does not engage this courtâs jurisdiction,â read the courtâs order dated March 28 and made public by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) on Monday.
âWe have always contended as the NPA that their leave to appeal has no prospects of success, and the Constitutional Court has just confirmed that,â NPA spokesman Luvuyo Mfaku said.
Reporting by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; editing by Andrew Roche
Source www.reuters.com
Be the first to comment