#OscarPistorius: Walk on stumps under fire

Oscar Pistorius' prosthetics lay on the floor as he walks on his stumps during argument in mitigation of sentence by his defence attorney Barry Roux in the High Court in Pretoria, South Africa, Wednesday, June 15, 2016. An appeals court found Pistorius guilty of murder and not a lesser charge of culpable homicide for the shooting death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. (AP Photo/Siphiwe Sibeko, Pool via AP)

Oscar Pistorius' prosthetics lay on the floor as he walks on his stumps during argument in mitigation of sentence by his defence attorney Barry Roux in the High Court in Pretoria, South Africa, Wednesday, June 15, 2016. An appeals court found Pistorius guilty of murder and not a lesser charge of culpable homicide for the shooting death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. (AP Photo/Siphiwe Sibeko, Pool via AP)

Published Jun 16, 2016

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Pretoria - A dramatic insight into Oscar Pistorius’s vulnerability or a manipulative bid to emotionally hijack court proceedings? Moments after a red-faced Pistorius was asked to walk across the courtroom without his prosthetic legs, social media was divided on what it meant for the athlete’s case.

“This is the person... that you have to sentence,” Pistorius’s counsel told the high court in Pretoria.

Pistorius is being sentenced for the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, by firing four shots into a closed bathroom door, believing an intruder was behind it.

On Wednesday defence advocate Barry Roux and State prosecutor Gerrie Nel locked horns in their closing arguments, each pulling no punches as they fought in aggravation and mitigation of the athlete’s minimum sentence of 15 years in prison.

Roux insisted such a lengthy sentence would be shockingly inappropriate and that no court would apply the minimum sentence in this case, as the court was dealing with a reduced moral blameworthiness upon the athlete. He insisted that the threat perceived by Pistorius was real to him, with no direct intent to kill, and the court needed to take that into account.

Nel’s arguments begged the court to acknowledge Pistorius’s lack of honesty throughout the trial and that because he had never once spoken the truth, he showed a clear lack of remorse for what he had done. The prosecutor indicated that since the appeal judgment, the State’s case had changed, and it believed Pistorius had direct intent to kill the person behind the bathroom door.

@robynwithayuh: the #OscarPistorius case is increasingly upsetting, such extreme lengths to go to to avoid a just sentence, a long and depressing process

@gugulisious: I feel like Mr Roux is manipulating the system and his emotionally blackmailing us: why do this though #OscarPistorius #Roux

@vonniliciousxx: #OscarPistorius yes he was on his stumps but he wasn’t sobbing was he, he was armed with a gun!!! A deadly weapon that he shot 4 times!

@Vapopya1: Barry Roux is a shameless hypocrite; parading Oscar on his stumps in court is not gonna sway us. He must go to jail.

@MissBetty_Booo: I did not say #OscarPistorius is innocent, I just felt bad watching him walk.... I am that emotional, I cry watching Rambo ...it's who I am

@SharteeiM: I feel a lil bit sad and sorry for him now. He might be regretting the whole situation. I’m a human not a robot.#OscarPistorius

The Star

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