Trial of athlete Oscar Pistorius will be partially televised, a South African judge ruled, Tuesday.
Pistorius, who is accused of fatally shooting his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, will face trial next Monday. His attorneys had previously asked the court to keep the trial private and ban the media from the proceedings saying that this would deny him a fair trial.
But Gauteng High Court Judge Dunstan Mlambo ruled to allow limited TV coverage of the trial. This will be South africa's first televised trial. "The applicants ... are permitted to set up equipment in accordance to specifications ... to obtain a video and audio recording of the permitted portions," Mlambo said, reports Yahoo! SPORT.
The entire audio of the trial will be broadcast but only certain parts will be telecast alive including opening arguments, evidence of experts, police witnesses and closing arguments.
The 27-year-old double-amputee Olypian shot Steenkamp last year on Valentine's Day at his home in Pretoria, South Africa. However, he said he did not intentionally shoot his girlfriend and that he mistook her for an intruder.
Media groups MultiChoice, eNCA and Eyewitness News made an application to televise proceedings, reports the Mirror. MultiChoice has set up a new channel 'Oscar Psitorius Trial' channel and will give 24-hour coverage of the proceedings.
Defense lawyers argued that the live coverage would prejudice proceedings, reports BBC. Furthermore, Mlambo said the live broadcast of a celebrity trial would address the issue of misconceptions about the justice system.
The media has been ordered not to film close ups or record private conversations. Photographers will be allowed to take stills.
Psitorius is also charged with illegal possession of ammunition apart from the murder charges. Pistorius, famously called the 'Blade Runner,' won a Paralympic gold in 400m race and was one of the most celebrated athletes of the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics in London.
