Johannesburg - The NPA has declined to comment about documents “leaked” to the media about murder-accused paralympian Oscar Pistorius's bail condition challenge.
“What we have heard in the news is that there is an argument available to the media. We did not release any document,” said National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesman Medupe Simasiku.
“We definitely cannot comment on something that was leaked to the media. It would be too early to actually deal with that now, unless we want to prejudice the whole process.”
Simasiku was referring to papers before the court in the appeal, which was reported on earlier this month.
Pistorius would “probably not” be in court for the appeal of his bail conditions, his lawyer Kenny Oldwage said.
“It's an appeal. There is no need for him to be there,” Oldwage said.
Family spokesman Johan van Wyk also said Pistorius was not required to be present for the appeal in the High Court in Pretoria on Thursday.
Pistorius will appeal against the bail conditions imposed by the Pretoria Magistrate's Court when it granted him bail of R1 million on February 22.
He is to challenge them as unwarranted and unfair, and is seeking to have the conditions scrapped or altered.
In the papers before the court, his lawyers argue that Pistorius should be able to travel if given permission by the investigating officer, given that Magistrate Desmond Nair found during his bail application that he was not a flight risk.
They also argue that it should not be necessary for him to report to the Brooklyn police station in Pretoria, to be supervised by a probation officer, and to submit to compulsory drug and alcohol testing.
Pistorius would also ask the court to allow him to return to his home in Pretoria, where he shot his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on February 14.
His legal team said it was unfair to place a “blanket order” which did not allow him to talk to the residents within the security complex.
“We are going to oppose the whole application as it was presented,” said Simasiku.
Pistorius is due back in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court on June 4, to face a murder charge. He claims he thought Steenkamp was an intruder. - Sapa