The Times - UK (2022-04-30)

the times | Saturday April 30 2022 45

Wo r l d

Oscar Pistorius’s parole is being
“unfairly” stalled by the failure of his
victim’s parents to meet him face to face
in what could be a “deliberate attempt
to punish him and frustrate the
process”, his lawyer said.
The Olympian and Paralympian
sprinter has served more than half of a
13-year sentence for the fatal shooting
of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in
2013 and is eligible for early release with
conditions set by the prison authorities.
In November he was moved 750
miles to a maximum-security jail close
to Barry and June Steenkamp for a “vic-

Engineers plan to explore a long-hid-
den tunnel in northeastern France next
week in an attempt to locate the
remains of more than 250 German sol-
diers who died after being trapped
there during the First World War.
The Volksbund war graves commis-
sion and its French counterpart believe
they have found the Winterberg tunnel
where men from the 111st Reserve
Infantry Regiment from the southern
region of Baden suffocated during the
Second Battle of the Aisne in 1917.
“Why do we look for war dead who
lost their lives in the First World War,
more than 100 years ago, when people
have been dying for weeks in the war in
Ukraine, soldiers and civilians alike?’’
the Volksbund said. “The dead of wars

However, vets had to wait until it was

fully grown before they could act.

Images obtained from Brazil’s envi-

ronment ministry show the toucan

looking forlorn lying on a table with a

large chunk of its beak missing.

Dr Lucas Cazati, from the

Centre for Rehabilitation

of Wild Animals, fitted

the bird with the spe-

cially made prosthesis.

He said it was now

eating well and was

being cared for at the

centre. “In situations

like this, even if the

animal cannot return to

nature we offer it quality of

life,” he said.

3D printer gives wounded

toucan clean bill of health

Brazil

Lianne Kolirin

Search for soldiers entombed in tunnel

nothing happened for years. However,

officials in France and Germany were

spurred into action by an illegal dig at

the site in 2019 by Malinowski’s son,

Pierre, a former Foreign Legion soldier

who had made headlines earlier that

year by discovering the remains of

Charles-Étienne Gudin, a Napoleonic

general, under a disco in Smolensk.

“We want to try everything we can,”

Diane Tempel-Bornett, a spokes-

woman for the Volksbund, said. “We

want to give them a dignified resting

place, and that means a place that has

been consecrated.”

She said engineers would use a new

method to drill into the tunnel. “Then

we hope to be able to insert a camera

into the cavity and examine it,” she said.

The drilling is to take place next week

and if successful could quickly lead to a

wider excavation.

Germany
David Crossland Berlin

Vets in Brazil have given a wounded

toucan a new lease of life after restoring

its beak using a 3D printer.

The young bird arrived at

a wild animal rehabilita-

tion centre in Mato

Grosso do Sul, in west-

central Brazil, with a

badly dented upper

beak.

The injury meant

the male bird was un-

able to feed properly.

should remind the living to make peace

... We must learn from history.”
During an initial dig in April 2021
archaeologists found a coat bearing the
regimental number 111 and a narrow-
gauge rail track known to have led into
the tunnel but were thwarted by the
sandy ground and the discovery of
munitions.
The German soldiers were killed
after a French shell exploded at the
entrance to the tunnel, detonating
munitions and entombing them.
The location was forgotten until
Alain Malinowski, a local historian,
came across a French map of the tunnel
and established its likely location in a
wooded slope close to the village of
Craonne near the Chemin des Dames,
a ridge held by German forces for much
of the war. In 2010, he wrote to Angela
Merkel, the German chancellor, but

The bird had to be fully

grown before its operation

large chun

Dr Lu

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tim-offender dialogue” that
precedes a parole hearing.
Five months later they
have still to agree on an ar-
rangement, Julian
Knight, the athlete’s
lawyer, said.
“My client has
been taken away
from his support
structures to
accommodate the
Steenkamps but
has been met by
one delay after
another. The ques-
tion can be asked
whether this is being
done to punish my
client, to deliberately
frustrate the parole

Pistorius claims

victim’s parents

are delaying his

parole hearing

process,” Knight said, adding that he

would apply to court to compel the pris-

on authorities to convene a parole

hearing. “Oscar Pistorius has a

squeaky-clean prison record and meets

all the requirements for parole,” he said.

Steenkamp, 29, died when Pistorius,

now 35, fired four times through a

locked bathroom door at his home in

Pretoria in the early hours of Valen-

tine’s Day. He testified that he had mis-

taken her for an intruder.

He was found guilty of manslaughter

in 2014 and sentenced to six years in

prison. A year later, on appeal, his con-

viction was upgraded to murder with a

term of 13 years and five months.

While the Steenkamps’ views are

taken into consideration by the parole

board, they are not a deciding factor

and a victim-offender dialogue is not

mandatory. Parole is not something a

prisoner applies for; the board reviews

recommendations by a social worker,

prison bosses and a psychologist.

Tania Koen, the Steenkamps’ lawyer,

has questioned whether the court’s cal-

culations were correct and whether

Pistorius was even eligible to be consid-

ered for release. She confirmed to The

Times that “the Steenkamps are

still seeking a meeting” with

their daughter’s killer. Knight

said he had last spoken to Pis-

torius a fortnight ago and

there was “an understanda-

ble element of frustration”.

The St Albans correc-

tional centre in Gqe-

berha, where he has

been kept since

November, is far

rougher than Atte-

ridgeville prison in

Pretoria, which

only takes prisoners

serving light terms.

An exception was

made for Pistorius,

who grew up near by.

Last year inmates at

St Albans staged a

three-day hunger

strike over conditions.

South Africa
Jane Flanagan Cape Town

June and Barry Steenkamp’s daughter
Reeva was killed by Pistorius in 2013

A

new fashion

range from

Uganda may

look rather

familiar to its

intended customers in

the West (Jane Flanagan

writes). The Return To

Sender collection is made

from clothing donated to

charity shops in Britain

and elsewhere, and was

inspired by western

consumers’ love of fast

fashion, which has killed

African textile industries.

Bobby Kolade is a

designer on a mission to

revive textile production

in Uganda. “We’re

sending the clothes back

to where they came

from,” he said. “But

looking quite different,

with a Ugandan identity

that showcases our

creativity and skills.”

Kolade, 35, began

upcycling hand-me-downs

after discovering that the

country had only two

remaining textile mills.

Uganda was once one of

Africa’s biggest producers

of cotton but is now

drowning in tonnes of

cast-offs, including

designer fakes, skiwear

and hen-night T-shirts —

some still stained with

lipstick and sweat.

The first project by

Kolade’s Buzigahill brand

is to counter the sense of

“oppression” caused by

more than eight out of

ten garments bought in

Uganda having come

from donation bins

in rich countries.

He has a ten-

year plan to

build factories

to repurpose

used clothing

— “since I can

see no end to

that flow”.

Pieces

cleaned, cut

and sewn at

his studio

range in price

from £170 for a

hoodie to £420

for a coat.

Most garments

donated in the

West are packed in

bundles weighing

up to 90kg and sent to

Africa. Traders pay up

to £200 for a parcel,

taking a gamble on

what they get. With

no recycling systems

in place, an estimated

40 per cent of clothes

are discarded,

choking rivers,

waste ground and

landfill sites.

Unable to

compete at that

price, local textile

industries have

collapsed.

The United

Nations says the

UK is the second-

largest exporter

of used clothes.

A survey found

that a garment in Britain

was worn an average of

only seven times.

In 2016 Uganda and

three other east African

countries said they would

ban imports of used

clothing. In response,

America threatened to

suspend access to a

preferential trade

agreement. Uganda,

Kenya and Tanzania

backed down but Rwanda

held firm. Since cast-off

imports were banned its

textile and garment

sector has grown in value

by more than 80 per cent.

Uganda sells

charity shop

clothes back

to the West

Bobby Kolade’s

designs use

clothes donated

in the West and

shipped to Africa.

He wants to

highlight a

process that has

killed Uganda’s

textile industry