Whether Oscar Pistorius received special treatment on his birthday depends on who is telling the story. That Pistorius received no special treatment during Christmas is not debatable.
The Times of South Africa described the conditions that Pistorius faced at the Kgosi Mampuru II prison in Pretoria, South Africa on Christmas Day.
Oscar Pistorius vomited in court for sympathy, Reeva Steenkamp's mother says.
The biggest hope of the day for the prisoners on Thursday was a special meal.
"Meat is not served every day in jail, but prison officials try to juggle the menu to make sure it's available on Christmas Day, according to Zebilon Monama, the area commissioner at Kgosi Mampuru II prison in Pretoria. 'Prisoners are not being pampered,' he said.
Logan Maistry, spokesman for the Department of Correctional Services, told Eyewitness News in South Africa that keeping Christmas as close to the daily routine of the facility is of utmost importance.
"The mandate of the department is to (ensure) safe and secure incarceration therefore on days like Christmas in a correctional center it is like any other normal day," Maistry told EWN.
Pistorius was to serve just the one Christmas at the Kgosi Mampuru II prison under the original terms of his sentence on a culpable homicide charge in the shooting death of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013.
Judge Thokozile Masipa sentenced Pistorius to five years in prison, giving the double-amputee Olympic sprinter the opportunity to spend just 10 months in jail and finish the remainder of his term under house arrest, per South African law - prisoners must serve one-sixth of their sentence in prison before becoming eligible for house arrest.
But prosecutors earned the right to an appeal of the verdict and can restate its case to as many as five judges in the South Africa Supreme Court of Appeals and seek a murder charge.
Legal experts say Pistorius could receive as many as 15 years in prison on a murder charge, which would appear to indicate that the runner could spend 2½ years behind bars - if the one-sixth rule is applied.
Prisoners are allowed to purchase a Christmas tree and decorations totaling R75, The Times of South Africa added.
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