[Josy]

As an international media circus gathers and rolling TV coverage is planned, the frenzy of tweeting and commentary will put South Africa's justice system under close scrutiny

"The Oscar Pistorius court case has all the elements of a Hollywood drama," says the blurb for South Africa's flagship current affairs TV show this week. "A superstar sporting hero, a beautiful victim, a glamorous lifestyle and, on Valentine's Day – a dramatic killing. But this wasn't fiction. It was fact."

When Pistorius enters the North Gauteng high court on Monday morning, one of the most watched, most tweeted and most hyped murder trials in history will finally be under way.

South Africa, which had no television until 1975, will launch a channel providing the kind of 24-hour rolling coverage usually associated with wars. Dozens of journalists – from Le Monde in France to Yomiuri Shimbun in Japan – will be part of an international media extravaganza never before seen in an African court.

More at the link here

http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...istorius-trial

Key players in the Oscar Pistorius trial

The judge: Thokozile Masipa
At the centre of the biggest media circus in South African legal history is a former crime reporter who was never short of stories during the dog days of the apartheid era. Masipa, top, was also a social worker after leaving school in 1976, and only completed her law degree at 43. In 1998 she became the second black woman on the Transvaal bench, and has spoken out strongly about violence against women in her judgments and twice handed down maximum sentences to men convicted of such crimes. One was in 2009 against Freddy Mashamba, a police officer who shot and killed his former wife after a row over their divorce settlement. "No one is above the law," Masipa said. "You deserve to go to jail for life because you are not a protector. You are a killer."

The second was in May against Shepherd Moyo, a serial rapist and burglar whose

sentence of 252 years was intended to serve as a deterrent, she said. "The worst in my view is that he attacked and raped the victims in the sanctity of their own homes where they thought they were safe."

The prosecutor: Gerrie Nel
Nel, middle, a career prosecutor with more than 30 years' experience, has handled some of South Africa's biggest cases and is unlikely to be disconcerted by the spotlight. He has known worse. In 2008, when he was prosecuting Jackie Selebi, the country's most senior police officer and later president of Interpol, Nel was arrested by 20 police officers in front of his wife and children in the early hours one morning. Fraud charges against him were later dropped and, two years later, Nel secured a corruption conviction against Selebi, who was sentenced to 15 years behind bars. "Everything he touches turns to gold," Mthunzi Mhaga, a former national prosecuting authority spokesman, told South African media.

The defence: Barry Roux
In a case being compared to the OJ Simpson trial before it even opens, South Africa's answer to the charismatic American defence lawyer Johnnie Cochran is Barry Roux, bottom, who will strive to prevent Pistorius from going to jail. Roux was admitted to the Johannesburg bar in 1982 and is a senior advocate with a colourful history of clients. – including Dave King, a Scottish-born businessman and former Rangers football club director who risked jail for ignoring the biggest tax bill in South African history. It is speculated that Roux could be earning around 50,000 rand (£3,600) a day. He stole the limelight during Pistorius's bail hearing when he tore into the evidence of the lead detective Hilton Botha. "This is like watching a baby seal getting clubbed," one South African journalist tweeted.

So do you think it will be a fair trial? what's your opinions of this case?

Discuss

[LeatherTrumpet]

Some African sh**?

Some vaguely famous once athlete?

no thanks

[Josy]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

Some African sh**?

Some vaguely famous once athlete?

no thanks

He's the fastest man on no legs, very famous actually..

but I never asked if you would be watching/following I asked if you think it will be a fair trial? it's being televised to prove that famous people are given the same treatment as non famous people so what do think?

[Kate!]

Comparisons with OJ were inevitable, and like OJ he's as guilty as sin. Unlike OJ though I don't think he'll get away with it. I like legal stuff so will find this interesting and am optimistic for a fair trial yes.

[LeatherTrumpet]

Originally Posted by Josy

He's the fastest man on no legs, very famous actually..

but I never asked if you would be watching/following I asked if you think it will be a fair trial? it's being televised to prove that famous people are given the same treatment as non famous people so what do think?

Its in Africa

there is no chance of fairness

and he was the fastest man with no legs below the knees who decided to take up running and that, is a small sample size

[MTVN]

It's not that small, Pistorious is the most successful paralympian ever, worth more than most able bodied athletes, has been a figurehead of disabled sports, won numerous gold medals and has also competed alongside able bodied athletes

Anyway I think his story is farfetched but just about possible, I wouldnt be too surprised if there was enough doubt not to convict him. If he is found guilty though hes in for absolute hell in South African jail

[LeatherTrumpet]

Originally Posted by MTVN

It's not that small, Pistorious is the most successful paralympian ever, worth more than most able bodied athletes, has been a figurehead of disabled sports, won numerous gold medals and has also competed alongside able bodied athletes

Anyway I think his story is farfetched but just about possible, I wouldnt be too surprised if there was enough doubt not to convict him. If he is found guilty though hes in for absolute hell in South African jail

Has he even tried to come up with an excuse why he did not shoot her in a jealous rage?

[MTVN]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

Has he even tried to come up with an excuse why he did not shoot her in a jealous rage?

Claims he was outside on the balcony, came back in and heard a noise in the bathroom and cos he was on his stumps felt vulnerable so went to to the locked toilet door thinking it was a burglar in there and shot through it

Didn't think to check his girlfriend was still in bed or anything apparently

[arista]

He is guilty
Live on every TV news in Court soon.

[LeatherTrumpet]

in first with...

He has not got a leg to stand on

[arista]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

Its in Africa

there is no chance of fairness

and he was the fastest man with no legs below the knees who decided to take up running and that, is a small sample size

Thats why its going Worldwide on Every TV News Live
to stop people like you going on about the past

[MeMyselfAndI]

Never heard of him/it, Amanda Knox's trial is bigger

[MeMyselfAndI]

Oh actually I have heard of it

[LeatherTrumpet]

Originally Posted by arista

Thats why its going Worldwide on Every TV News Live
to stop people like you going on about the past

they wont stop me

NOONE WILL STOP ME ...(echo: noone will stop me, noone will stop me..)

[MTVN]

Didn't know murder trials were in competition with each other to try and be 'bigger' than the others

[arista]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

they wont stop me

NOONE WILL STOP ME ...(echo: noone will stop me, noone will stop me..)

But you can Watch it Live on TV News

[MeMyselfAndI]

Hopefully he'll be sent to prison for ever, the evidence is overwhelmingly

- He & gf had a massive fight
- She then locks herself in the bathroom & he goes to balcony
- He walks through the bedroom, past the empty bed & shoots four times through the bathroom door on his prosthetic leg [Not once - FOUR times]
- He lied and said he was not on his on his prosthetic leg, when his girlfriend was shot from a high angle, so he was lieing, he actually had time to put on his prosthetic legs before the shooting. - So there was no panic or rush before the shooting, i.e. no bugular
- He was seen at a shooting range a day before
- he did not have a license for a .38-caliber weapon and consequently his possession of ammunition for such a weapon was illegal

[LeatherTrumpet]

Originally Posted by arista

But you can Watch it Live on TV News

Yes on my New LG 84'' Ultra HD TV

[MTVN]

Originally Posted by MeMyselfAndI

Hopefully he'll be sent to prison for ever, the evidence is overwhelmingly

- He & gf had a massive fight
- She then locks herself in the bathroom & he goes to balcony
- He walks through the bedroom, past the empty bed & shoots four times through the bathroom door on his prosthetic leg [Not once - FOUR times]
- He lied and said he was not on his on his prosthetic leg, when his girlfriend was shot from a high angle, so he was lieing, he actually had time to put on his prosthetic legs before the shooting. - So there was no panic or rush before the shooting, i.e. no bugular
- He was seen at a shooting range a day before
- he did not have a license for a .38-caliber weapon and consequently his possession of ammunition for such a weapon was illegal

The prosecution has admitted that he may well not have been on his legs now after ballistic experts said it was unlikely

Other than that I do agree the evidence is strong

[Niamh.]

It'll be a disgrace if he's not found guilty

[Toy Soldier]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

It'll be a disgrace if he's not found guilty

And yet, he probably will be. He's been given FAR too long to construct a solid narrative and some of the forensic evidence is already conspicuously different from what was released at the time. The entire thing absolutely reeks of corruption.

[joeysteele]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

It'll be a disgrace if he's not found guilty

I actually think he will be found not guilty somehow.
What I dread is if it is the same judge presiding who did his bail hearings.
His summing up will likely take 3/4 days at least.

[GypsyGoth]

Either way he's guilty.

One way he killed her because he thought she was a burglar - that's murder.

The other way he killed her because he knew it was her - that's also murder.

He should just get put in jail for life and the money that is saved on his trail should be given to an amputee charity or something.

[Z]

I just think it's a crying shame that in all of this, Reeva Steenkamp has mostly been forgotten. People are making more out of the fact a paralympian who had it all murdered/accidentally killed his hot girlfriend and newspaper are rather grotesquely publishing bikini pictures of her... but it's all from his point of view, the focus is on him and not on her, in the media. Her family must be absolutely heart broken.

[Shaun]

Originally Posted by GypsyGoth

One way he killed her because he thought she was a burglar - that's murder.

eh, I'm not really the strongest advocate of the (all-encompassing, gun-toting) right to defend your home but what are South Africa's laws on that? Because I think it's a bit extreme to say that's murder.