Australian broadcaster defends showing of Pistorius re-enactment of Steenkamp shooting

On Sunday night, Australian Channel Seven had shown leaked footage of Paralympian Oscar Pistorius re-enacting the moments where he fatally shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp as he claimed in accident. The Telegraph said that the dramatic footage was aired during the primetime slot, had shown the South African athlete stumbling forward awkwardly without his prosthetic legs and holding his arm out in front of him as if he was holding the gun that killed Steenkamp.

It has been observed that Pistorius might have been able to move more without his prosthetics as his defense team initially has claimed during his trial in the Pretoria High Court.

The footage also showed Pistorius, dressed in a Nike singlet and Lycra shorts, demonstrating how he has bashed the bathroom door down before putting his arms on his dying girlfriend around his neck. Pistorius also showed on camera how he had dragged Steenkamp from the bathroom before moving her body downstairs.

Pistorius' camp was obviously not happy with the broadcast, and has cried foul over the apparent illegal footage obtained by the television channel. Brian Webber, a lawyer for Pistorius, said in a statement, "We wish to make it very clear that the material that has been aired was obtained illegally and in breach of the non-disclosure agreement with The Evidence Room. For the family, the airing of this footage constitutes a staggering breach of trust and an invasion of the family's privacy."

Channel Seven, on the other hand, had not commented on Pistorius' camp's claims nor mentioned how much it has paid to obtained the footage. However, it insisted that it has obtained the footage by legal means and that the video was only broadcasted in Australia.

Program executive producer Mark Llewellyn said in a statement, "We would not have run the footage if we thought we had obtained it illegally. The material shown on Sunday Night goes to the heart of both the prosecution and defense cases, including the account provided by Oscar Pistorius. The story was run in Australia only and not made available to any other territory."

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Oscar Pistorius Trial, Oscar Pistorius reenactment footage, Oscar Pistorius Channel Seven reenactment video, Oscar Pistorius shooting video

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