South African prosecutors to appeal against Oscar Pistorius' conviction and sentence

South African prosecutors have revealed that they are going to appeal against Paralympics sprinter Oscar Pistorius' conviction and the sentence given to the double amputee athlete for killing his girlfriend.

Pistorius began serving a five-year prison sentence last week for the culpable homicide of Reeva Steenkamp, although the South African athlete might be out in 10 months. He was cleared of murder. The national prosecuting spokesman said that the appeal on conviction is based on the question of law. Meanwhile, the athlete's family has said that they would not appeal, The BBC reported.

Pistorius was also given a three-year suspended sentence for firing a gun in a restaurant. Nathi Mncube from the National Prosecuting Authority said in a statement that the prosecutors are now preparing the necessary papers in order to be able to file within the next few days.

Pistorius was charged by the prosecution with the pre-meditated murder of Steenkamp, a model and law graduate, but the judge cleared him of this and the lesser murder charge of dolus eventualis, which is also known as common-law murder in South African law and applies if the accused knew they might kill someone but still went ahead with their course of action.

The prosecution's grounds for appeal might lie with how the judge interpreted dolus eventualis. The judge's critics have argued that dolus eventualis includes the possibility of meaning to kill one person and ending up killing another.

Steenkamp's mother June on Sunday chose to stay silent regarding whether the family would support a state appeal or not. She said that all they have ever said is that they want to know the truth, adding that they owe it to Reeva.