Pretoria - The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has announced that it will apply for leave to appeal the "shockingly lenient” six-year prison sentence imposed on convicted murderer Oscar Pistorius.
In a statement on Thursday, the NPA said it has carefully considered the sentence and has decided to file an application for leave to appeal in terms of section 316(1) of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977 against the sentence imposed by Judge Masipa in the Gauteng High Court.
The papers will be filed today, it said.
“We respectfully submit that the sentence of six years imprisonment, in all the circumstances, is disproportionate to the crime of murder committed, in casu, that is to say, shockingly too lenient, and has accordingly resulted in an injustice and has the potential to bring the administration of justice into disrepute,” the NPA said.
It believed that the appeal will also clarify further the principles of sentencing, particularly in crime categories.
Earlier this month, Judge Masipa sentenced Pistorius to six years in prison for the 2013 murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. – SAnews.gov.za
