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Pretoria – Oscar Pistorius has still not acknowledged that he murdered Reeva Steenkamp and can thus not be said to have shown remorse, the High Court in Pretoria heard on Wednesday.
His statement that “I caused her death” was not the same as “I murdered”, and for remorse the latter was needed, prosecutor Gerrie Nel said in presenting his closing arguments ahead of the former Paralympian’s sentencing.
He cited a report from the psychologist at Kgosi Mampuru II prison, where Pistorius spent a year, that he acted like he had not committed a crime. Pistorius merely accepted the Supreme Court of Appeal’s finding that he was guilty of murder in order to prepare himself for his sentence, Nel said.
“He had no insight into his crime.”
Nel criticised Pistorius for giving a televised interview, instead of being honest with the court.
“He elected to give an interview to TV, but not take this court into his confidence. It’s disrespectful to this court, it’s disrespectful to the victims of this crime,” he said.
Steenkamp's cousin Kim Martin told the court earlier that the interview Pistorius gave to a TV channel was hurtful.
“I’m not happy about that at all. I think it’s very unfair to want to talk to the world about your version when you’ve had the opportunity in court to do so. It’s hurtful and I can’t understand why,” she said.
The interview with investigative journalist Mark Williams-Thomas, for a special one-off programme titled Oscar Pistorius: The Interview, will air on Friday, June 24 at 21:00 on Britain’s ITV.
