The people are angry, and it’s not just the people of South Africa.
Following his paltry six-year sentence for murder (the moment he found out HERE), everyone has had their say on ‘ol Oscar. That includes the foreign press, and as you can expect they’ve been tearing into the lenient sentence the world over.
We’ll keep it simple and give you Huffington Post‘s strongly worded piece on the matter, because they weren’t packing any punches:
Even after being convicted of committing a violent murder, Pistorius, a white, rich, conventionally attractive athlete, was afforded a sympathetic narrative. It is a familiar story ― and a reminder that this kind of language perpetuates the idea that the perpetrator of a heinous crime against a woman has simply too much to lose to be punished in full…
…perhaps Pistorius’s sentence shouldn’t come as a surprise ― violence against women at the hands of powerful men and lenient punishment seem to go hand in hand…
Pistorius and [convicted rapist Brock] Turner’s experiences with their respective countries’ legal systems are a harsh echo of the way that society protects powerful white men. Justice systems are seemingly unequipped to fully support women, but are exceptionally skilled in seeing a male perpetrator’s future potential ― and letting him off the hook because of it.
One has to agree really, and whilst Judge Masipa seems to sympathise with Oscar she is certainly amongst the minority.
You do know what a six-year sentence really means in terms of jail time, right? Check that HERE – just to drive home how lightly he got off.
[source:huffpost]
