Today Oscar Pistorius' legal team have been in Court for a review of the bail conditions imposed on the South African sprinter as he awaits trial over the shooting of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. The Judge has ruled that Pistorious is allowed to return home now that forensic tests have been completed and the house is no longer considered an active crime scene.
The Court also ruled that Pistorius is allowed to travel outside of South Africa to attend athletics competitions. However this is not the same as saying that Pistorius has been given his passport back. Instead if he wishes to attend a specific athletics event he must inform the relevant authority (I believe his probation officer) of his exact travel plans one week in advance. If those plans are approved Pistorius' lawyer is allowed to release his passport to him on the day of travel. Pistorius must then re-surrender his passport to his lawyer within 24 hours of his scheduled return to South Africa.
I suppose this could be Pistorius being used as a metaphor for me. After all it's been nearly some eight years since I've been allowed to return home. Also while the UK claims that it is refusing to allow me a passport in order to protect me from nations that may wish to do me harm many nations - particularly South Africa - would be more than happy to host me. In fact one thing the UK was hoping for from Rihanna's tour is that we would become at least friends providing the UK with the opportunity to discuss with the nations on the tour itinerary whether they would allow me entry to visit Rihanna on tour. However I don't think that's really the main problem I'm facing at the moment.
I suppose this could also be Pistorius being used as a metaphor for Chris Brown. After all while there is no question that Brown will ever be permitted to contact Rihanna ever again the South Africans could be indicating that they would allow him certain freedoms whilst on bail to promote his new album. It is here I disagree with the South Africans because Brown's efforts to promote his album so far such as his interview with USA Today, his appearance on the Ryan Seacrest radio show and his interviews with Rolling Stone magazine and MTV online have all be clearly intended to serve a political purpose particularly disrupting the BRICS Summit. Also these sort of promotion efforts along with his use with his use of Twitter and Instagram provide Brown with an opportunity to contact Rihanna through his fans and her wider social circle. Therefore if Brown is to be permitted to continue promotional work each individual effort (Tweets included) will have to be subject to at least 7 days prior approval and heavy censorship. As Brown has already been convicted constitutional protections of free speech do not apply.
Mainly though I think the news about Oscar Pistorius is about the actual Oscar Pistorius. After all he is presumed innocent until proven guilty so the conditions imposed on him until the trial shouldn't unnecessarily punish him by either preventing him from returning to his home or preventing him form working. The nature of Pistorius' job means that he needs to travel internationally in order to attend competitions both to remain in peak physical condition should he be found innocent and to earn the money needed to mount a defence.
13:05 on 28/3/13.
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