Cape Town, South Africa - South African paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorious was granted bail by the Pretoria Magistrate's Court on Friday afternoon, a week after he was arrested for the alleged murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.
The Olympic star has denied murder in his affidavit, saying he thought an intruder was in the house when he fired his gun.
'The accused has made a case to be released on bail,' ruled Magistrate Desmond Nair.
Pistorious, who cried repeatedly during Friday's hearing, did not react to the ruling but his friends and family cheered loudly.
Nair said there was no evidence that Pistorius would interfere with state witnesses and no proper evidence relating to the public perception of the matter.
He said the athlete was not a flight risk and that a propensity for violence on his part had not been shown.
Nair also took aim at police detective Hilton Botha for several mistakes he had made during the course of his investigations into the murder case.
On Thursday, the state replaced Botha after learning that he is facing attempted murder charges in an unrelated case.
In a major damage control exercise, national police commissioner Riah Phiyega Thursday announced that she is appointing a new team, with the country's top detective, Lt-Gen. Vineshkumar Moonoo, leading the team.
Pana 22/02/2013