Oscar Pistorius, The South African Olympian Sentenced To 5 Years in Prison

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LONDON — With a judge seeking to strike a balance between mercy and retribution, Oscar Pistorius, the South African track star, was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison for killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.The athlete’s defense team said the law under which he was punished calls for him to serve only one-sixth of the prison term — 10 months — before he can be placed on house arrest. He was also given a suspended three-year term on separate firearms charges.But some South African legal experts said the conversion of prison time to house arrest was not automatic and required negotiations with the correctional authorities. After serving half the sentence, Mr. Pistorius can also apply for parole.Ms. Steenkamp’s family said it was “satisfied” with the ruling, although the National Prosecuting Authority said it had not yet decided whether to appeal.“I’m just glad it’s over,” June Steenkamp, the victim’s mother, told reporters outside the courtroom.Mr. Pistorius’s family said it was not planning to appeal. “We accept the judgment,” Arnold Pistorius, the athlete’s uncle, said in a statement, appealing to the news media to “let us move forward” and “give us some degree of dignity and privacy as we do so.”according to new york time