Oscar Pistorius holds the hands of his uncle in court. (Photo: Agence France-Presse)
Pretoria:
Oscar Pistorius's uncle on Tuesday said the athlete's family accepted the court's judgement, after "The Blade Runner" was sentenced to five years in a South African jail for the culpable homicide of his girlfriend.
"The court has now handed down judgement and sentence, and we accept the judgement," said Arnold Pistorius in a statement outside court. "Oscar will embrace this opportunity to pay back to society."
"This has been an incredibly hard and painful process for everyone involved, the Ms Steenkamp family, our family and Oscar," he said.
"We are all emotionally drained," he said. "The case that was set down for three weeks originally has been dragged out for seven months."
He criticised the State for trying to find the 27-year-old guilty of premeditated murder and the "collateral damage" caused by that persistence.
"One of the most distressful parts for me of this whole trial, was how the truth became totally irrelevant for the state's attempt to make the premeditated murder stick."
A day after Mr Pistorius's brother and sister launched a media blitz to affirm Mr Pistorius's innocence, Arnold Pistorius called for privacy.
"I appeal to all of you as the media, to accept the ruling of the court, after 20 months of relentless public trial, I would ask ladies and gentleman of the media to let us move forward in this process."
He added that "as an uncle, I hope Oscar will start his own healing process as he walks down the path of restoration. As a family, we are ready to support and guide Oscar as he serves his sentence."
"The court has now handed down judgement and sentence, and we accept the judgement," said Arnold Pistorius in a statement outside court. "Oscar will embrace this opportunity to pay back to society."
"This has been an incredibly hard and painful process for everyone involved, the Ms Steenkamp family, our family and Oscar," he said.
"We are all emotionally drained," he said. "The case that was set down for three weeks originally has been dragged out for seven months."
He criticised the State for trying to find the 27-year-old guilty of premeditated murder and the "collateral damage" caused by that persistence.
"One of the most distressful parts for me of this whole trial, was how the truth became totally irrelevant for the state's attempt to make the premeditated murder stick."
A day after Mr Pistorius's brother and sister launched a media blitz to affirm Mr Pistorius's innocence, Arnold Pistorius called for privacy.
"I appeal to all of you as the media, to accept the ruling of the court, after 20 months of relentless public trial, I would ask ladies and gentleman of the media to let us move forward in this process."
He added that "as an uncle, I hope Oscar will start his own healing process as he walks down the path of restoration. As a family, we are ready to support and guide Oscar as he serves his sentence."
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