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Oscar Pistorius

PRETORIA — South African prosecutors are to appeal against Oscar Pistorius’s six-year sentence for murdering his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, describing it as “shockingly lenient”, in the latest twist to a legal saga that has attracted worldwide attention.

The national prosecuting authority said it would apply for leave to appeal yesterday, after saying the sentence was an injustice that had the potential to bring the administration of justice into disrepute. It said: “The sentence of six years’ imprisonment, in all the circumstances, is disproportionate to the crime of murder committed [and] shockingly too lenient”.

Judge Thokozile Masipa, who sentenced Pistorius earlier this month, has been criticised by women’s and other rights groups for accepting the defence argument that a lesser sentence than the 15-year minimum term sought by prosecutor Gerrie Nel was appropriate.

Masipa said she believed there were substantial and compelling reasons for a lesser sentence, including the athlete’s remorse and the fact he believed Steenkamp was an intruder.

Pistorius shot Steenkamp, a model and law graduate, in the early hours of Valentine’s Day in 2013, saying he mistook her for a burglar when he fired four times through the door of a bathroom.

The family said in a statement yesterday it had “no input” in the decision. — The Guardian.