Disgraced Paralympian Oscar Pistorius will learn how long he will spend in jail when a judge sentences him for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp three years ago.
Pistorius, who will face high court on Wednesday, was freed from prison in the South African capital Pretoria last October after serving one year of a five-year term for culpable homicide - the equivalent of manslaughter.
But an appeals court upgraded the conviction to murder, which has a mandatory sentence of 15 years.
Due to his time already spent in jail and mitigating factors such as his disability, he could be given a lesser term.
Pistorius, 29, shot Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine's Day in 2013, claiming he mistook her for a burglar when he fired four times through the door of his bedroom toilet.
"It is very difficult to predict what sentence it is that will be imposed ... This a fairly unique situation," Stephan Terblanche, a law professor at the University of South Africa, told the AFP news agency.
Legal expert Llewellyn Curlewis, chair of the Law Society of the Northern Provinces, said that he expected a sentence of between 11 and 14 years.
Wednesday's sentencing may also not be the end of the saga, as Pistorius or the state could launch a final round of appeals against the length of the prison term.
Judge Thokozile Masipa, who heard the original trial, will deliver the sentence three weeks after a court hearing that marked another episode of high drama in the long-running case.
Then, Pistorius, sobbing heavily, hobbled on his stumps across the courtroom to demonstrate his physical vulnerability as his lawyers argued he should not return to jail on account of his anxiety disorder and depression.
Aljazeera
Labels: Oscar Pistorius, Pretoria, Reeva Steekamp, South Africa