PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
South Africa: How Pistorius trial captivated the world (A feature by By Craig Urquhart, PANA Correspondent)
Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) – South Africa and, for that matter, the rest of the world, has never seen anything quite like it.
In opposite corners were two of Africa legal giants – prosecutor Gerrie Nel and defence advocate Barry Roux.
In the middle was “the world’s fastest man with no legs” and, presiding over them, a former journalist and social worker who captured the attention of the world with her dramatic judgement.
The Sydney Morning Herald noted that “it is an irony lost on no one that in a country with such a prominent history of racial tension, the world will be watching as a black woman who grew up in the poor townships of South Africa sits in judgment of a white man of class, privilege, and wealth”.
In 1998, she became a judge on a bench that was still heavily populated by white males, but proved that she was capable of cracking a large whip (a few months ago, she sentenced a serial rapist to 250 years in prison).
Another irony was the fact that the tragedy that launched this gripping drama occurred on Valentine’s Day last year when Paralympian Oscar Pistorius fired four shots at a bathroom door in his luxury Pretoria home killing his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
The double-amputee, who found international stardom when he competed against able-bodied athletes at the 2012 Olympic Games, admitted that he killed her, but he has maintained that he thought she was an intruder.
From the offset, the trial promised to be every bit as dramatic as that of fallen US football hero OJ Simpson 20 years ago.
And fuelled by social media, a platform that didn’t exist during the Simpson trial, the world was gripped from the start.
As one foreign correspondent this week observed: “What does it say about us, when the Paralympian's trial for murder attracts more media attention than Nelson Mandela's funeral.
Millions of people around the world were divided over whether the double-amputee had intentionally shot Steenkamp.
Certainly, there were plenty of warning signs; Pistorius had experienced untold trauma by being born with deformed legs which were later amputated, he was the product of a broken home and he had a love for fast cars, guns and beautiful women.
In the latest book on the tragedy, “An Accident Waiting to Happen”, Samantha Taylor, a former girlfriend of the Blade Runner said she experienced a series of rollercoaster rides of emotional highs as young love blossomed, contrasted with dangerous lows, as Pistorius’s international celebrity, emotional fragility, broken promises and acts of recklessness consumed her family.
The jilted girlfriend wrote that the London Olympic Games in 2012 was the lowest point in their relationship.
She said that while the world watched Pistorius making history as the first disabled athlete to compete against the likes of Usain Bolt, behind the scenes the weeping Paralympian was on the phone to her family “24/7”.
She said her mother warned Pistorius in October 2012 to get psychological help because “something is going to go wrong - your life is like this terrible accident waiting to happen”.
In the early hours of Valentine’s Day last year, something did go terribly wrong, and Pistorius found himself back int the international spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
After an epic trial which saw Pistorius vomiting in the dock as the tragedy was relived in graphic detail, Judge Thokozile Masipa ruled that he had been a poor witness.
“During his evidence-in-chief he seemed composed and logical. During cross-examination he lost his composure,” she said.
And yet, she acquitted him of murder because the evidence with regard to the charge was “purely circumstantial”.
“The accused therefore cannot be found guilty of murder dolus eventualis (legal intent)… here are just not enough facts to support such a finding.”
But Pistorius’s reprieve was short-lived. The judge subsequently found him guilty of culpable homicide, saying “I am of the view that the accused acted too hastily and used excessive force”. Under South African law, he can be jailed for 15 years for culpable homicide.
While many have criticised Judge Masipa for acquitting Pistorius on the main charge of murder, others believe the state had failed to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Pistorius will be sentenced on 13 October, but many believe that the state will appeal the controversial verdict.
Either way, South Africa’s legal system has also been on trial in the full glare of the international spotlight and irrespective of Pistorius’s punishment, the trial marks a watershed in the country’s legal history.
-0- PANA CU/MA 13Sept2014
In opposite corners were two of Africa legal giants – prosecutor Gerrie Nel and defence advocate Barry Roux.
In the middle was “the world’s fastest man with no legs” and, presiding over them, a former journalist and social worker who captured the attention of the world with her dramatic judgement.
The Sydney Morning Herald noted that “it is an irony lost on no one that in a country with such a prominent history of racial tension, the world will be watching as a black woman who grew up in the poor townships of South Africa sits in judgment of a white man of class, privilege, and wealth”.
In 1998, she became a judge on a bench that was still heavily populated by white males, but proved that she was capable of cracking a large whip (a few months ago, she sentenced a serial rapist to 250 years in prison).
Another irony was the fact that the tragedy that launched this gripping drama occurred on Valentine’s Day last year when Paralympian Oscar Pistorius fired four shots at a bathroom door in his luxury Pretoria home killing his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
The double-amputee, who found international stardom when he competed against able-bodied athletes at the 2012 Olympic Games, admitted that he killed her, but he has maintained that he thought she was an intruder.
From the offset, the trial promised to be every bit as dramatic as that of fallen US football hero OJ Simpson 20 years ago.
And fuelled by social media, a platform that didn’t exist during the Simpson trial, the world was gripped from the start.
As one foreign correspondent this week observed: “What does it say about us, when the Paralympian's trial for murder attracts more media attention than Nelson Mandela's funeral.
Millions of people around the world were divided over whether the double-amputee had intentionally shot Steenkamp.
Certainly, there were plenty of warning signs; Pistorius had experienced untold trauma by being born with deformed legs which were later amputated, he was the product of a broken home and he had a love for fast cars, guns and beautiful women.
In the latest book on the tragedy, “An Accident Waiting to Happen”, Samantha Taylor, a former girlfriend of the Blade Runner said she experienced a series of rollercoaster rides of emotional highs as young love blossomed, contrasted with dangerous lows, as Pistorius’s international celebrity, emotional fragility, broken promises and acts of recklessness consumed her family.
The jilted girlfriend wrote that the London Olympic Games in 2012 was the lowest point in their relationship.
She said that while the world watched Pistorius making history as the first disabled athlete to compete against the likes of Usain Bolt, behind the scenes the weeping Paralympian was on the phone to her family “24/7”.
She said her mother warned Pistorius in October 2012 to get psychological help because “something is going to go wrong - your life is like this terrible accident waiting to happen”.
In the early hours of Valentine’s Day last year, something did go terribly wrong, and Pistorius found himself back int the international spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
After an epic trial which saw Pistorius vomiting in the dock as the tragedy was relived in graphic detail, Judge Thokozile Masipa ruled that he had been a poor witness.
“During his evidence-in-chief he seemed composed and logical. During cross-examination he lost his composure,” she said.
And yet, she acquitted him of murder because the evidence with regard to the charge was “purely circumstantial”.
“The accused therefore cannot be found guilty of murder dolus eventualis (legal intent)… here are just not enough facts to support such a finding.”
But Pistorius’s reprieve was short-lived. The judge subsequently found him guilty of culpable homicide, saying “I am of the view that the accused acted too hastily and used excessive force”. Under South African law, he can be jailed for 15 years for culpable homicide.
While many have criticised Judge Masipa for acquitting Pistorius on the main charge of murder, others believe the state had failed to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Pistorius will be sentenced on 13 October, but many believe that the state will appeal the controversial verdict.
Either way, South Africa’s legal system has also been on trial in the full glare of the international spotlight and irrespective of Pistorius’s punishment, the trial marks a watershed in the country’s legal history.
-0- PANA CU/MA 13Sept2014
