Pistorius can leave South Africa to compete

Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius, charged with murdering his girlfriend, can leave South Africa to compete, with conditions, a judge has ruled in Pretoria.

Lawyers for Pistorius appealed against some of the Olympic athlete’s bail restrictions in a court in the South African capital today.

His lawyers said the double-amputee runner, who is charged with murder over the shooting death of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on February 14th, was being treated as a flight risk even though a magistrate had ruled last month that he was not such a risk when he released Pistorius on bail.

Lawyers argued that Pistorius should be allowed to leave South Africa with written permission.

They also said that forcing him to report regularly to a police station and a ban on him consuming alcohol, among other conditions, are “unwarranted”.

Prosecutors opposed any relaxing of Pistorius’s bail restrictions.

Pistorius did not attend the appeal hearing at North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.

AP