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Oscar Pistorius to appeal against bail conditions

Oscar Pistorius's bail was set at 1 million rand (£74,000; $110,000)

Lawyers for South African athlete Oscar Pistorius, who is charged with murdering his girlfriend, are due to challenge his bail conditions at a court hearing.

Oscar Pistorius’s bail was set at 1 million rand (£74,000; $110,000)

His lawyers will argue that the Olympic and Paralympics star should be allowed to return to his home, and to travel.

Mr Pistorius also wants an end to supervision by a probation officer and compulsory drug and alcohol testing.

He denies murdering Reeva Steenkamp at his home in Pretoria last month.

He says he shot her when he mistook her for an intruder.

Prosecutors said the state would oppose the application, which is being heard at the High Court in Pretoria.

Mr Pistorius’s lawyer, Kenny Oldwage, said his client did not need to be in court for this hearing.

The athlete’s legal team will appeal against some of the bail conditions imposed by Magistrate Desmond Nair on 22 February that include restrictions on him travelling abroad.

Mr Pistorius, 26, was ordered to hand over his two South African passports, avoid his home in Pretoria and all witnesses in the case, report to a police station twice a week and to abstain from drinking alcohol.

In the papers before the court on Thursday his lawyers argue that he should be allowed to travel if he is granted permission by the case investigation officer.

In an unrelated case, the athlete’s brother, Carl Pistorius, appeared in court on Wednesday charged with the culpable homicide of a female motorcyclist in a 2008 road crash. He pleaded not guilty and is due to appear in court again next week.

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