Oscar footage illegal: Pistorius family

Murder-accused paralympian Oscar Pistorius arrives at the High Court in Pretoria for his trial on Wednesday, 2 July 2014. The State is expected to continue its cross-examination of Pistorius' agent Petrus van Zyl. Picture: Werner Beukes/SAPA/Pool

Murder-accused paralympian Oscar Pistorius arrives at the High Court in Pretoria for his trial on Wednesday, 2 July 2014. The State is expected to continue its cross-examination of Pistorius' agent Petrus van Zyl. Picture: Werner Beukes/SAPA/Pool

Published Jul 6, 2014

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Johannesburg - The family of Oscar Pistorius said Australian broadcaster Channel 7 would be in breach of non-disclosure agreements if it aired the sensational footage of the Paralympian re-enacting the night he shot Reeva Steenkamp.

Family spokesman Anneliese Burgess said: “We wish to make it very clear that the material that has been aired was obtained illegally.

“Its usage also constitutes a breach of privilege as this material was produced for trial purposes on the instructions of a commissioner, and the ownership of the copyright vests in the commissioner. No permission for the disclosure thereof has been given.”

Burgess said for the family, the airing of this footage would constitute a staggering breach of trust and an invasion of the family’s privacy.

“It has come to our attention that Channel 7 purchased this footage unlawfully. In addition, during our engagement with Channel 7, we received an undertaking that they would not air any of the material before the end of the trial.

“While we cannot imagine how any of the footage would not support Oscar’s version, we will only be in a position to comment further once we have had the opportunity to study what has been aired.”

Burgess said the defence team engaged the services of The Evidence Room, A US-based company specialising in forensic animation, last October to visually map the events on the night of the accident.

As part of this process, certain video footage was filmed. The visual mapping was for trial preparation only and was not intended to be used for any other purpose.

Channel 7 published a promotional video of the recording on Saturday, with the rest of the it scheduled to be aired this evening on current affairs programme Sunday Night.

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