Photocred: Time
The murder-accused paralympian athlete, Oscar Pistorius, caused a large stir on social media site, Twitter, when he broke his media silence for the first time since the anniversary of Reeva Steenkamp’s death to post four quotes about love and pain.
The tweets, containing Bible verses, a picture of the athlete’s humanitarian work and a quote from the late Viktor Frankl’s book Man’s Search For Meaning, created an uproar of mixed emotions on twitter, with many people for and against the athlete taking to social media to express himself.
Oscar Pistorius is on trial currently for the alleged murder of his girlfriend at the time, Reeva Steenkamp. He shot and killed her in the early hours of the morning on Valentine’s Day, February 14th 2013. Steenkamp was apparently on the other side of the bathroom door in their house in Pretoria when Pistorius fired multiple shots into it, killing her. Pistorius has testified that he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder and fired through the door due to the fear of imminent attack. The case is currently adjourned until August, apparently when closing statements and a verdict will be heard. The court was adjourned last week after multiple defence witnesses refused to testify, apparently because of the high profile of the case and extensive media coverage as a result of this.
Pistorius posted tweets on Sunday and Monday, beginning with a quote from the Book of Psalms, 34:18, reading, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.” Pistorius’s quote from Holocaust survivor and renowned neurologist, Viktor Frankl read in part, “In a position of utter desolation, when a man cannot express himself in positive action, when his only achievement may consist of enduring his sufferings in the right way, an honourable way, in such a position, man can, through loving contemplation, of the image he carries of his beloved, achieve fulfillment.”
Pistorius also sent a tweet of a collage of photographs showing Pistorius himself with many disabled children bearing the caption, “You have the ability to make a difference in someone’s life. Sometimes it’s the simple things you say or do that can make someone feel better or inspire them.”
Final arguments are expected to be heard in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on 7 August after which a verdict will be decided.
