The secret is out; Oscar Pistorius is receiving preferential treatment at the Kgosi Mampuru II prison.
Days after an anonymous official at the Kgosi Mampuru facility in Pretoria, South Africa, the Daily Mail reported that Pistorius, the double-amputee Olympic sprinter has been granted a series of privileges behind bars.
The report said that Pistorius, who is serving a five-year prison sentence on a culpable homicide conviction in the shooting death of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day, 2013, has been recategorized as a category A prisoner.
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That means that the 28-year-old Pistorius now can hug and kiss prisoners - as opposed to the strict "no touching policy" to which he had to adhere. He also is allowed to wear jewelry, make more phone calls, find a hobby and have a bigger budget to buy toiletries and snacks.
Pistorius also can have more visitors.
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The reason given for the leniency toward Pistorius, according to the Daily Mail, is the fact that prison officials deem him as a minimal threat to security.
The anonymous prison official had said that Pistorius was being treated "like royalty" because of his popularity.
The prison official adds that "management is concerned that because of his high-profile status, if anything does happen to him it could be hugely embarrassing for the department," Eyewitness News of South Africa reports.
The Daily Mail added in a previous article that the prison wants to make sure "saying that the prison wants to make sure that the double-amputee Olympic sprinter avoids any situation in which he could be assaulted."
The increased privileges come at an odd time for Pistorius as he braces himself for another trial. Prosecutors were granted the right to appeal his conviction and retry to obtain murder charges. If prosecutors get a murder conviction with the South African Court of Appeals, Pistorius may get a 15-year prison sentence.
And his privileges likely will disappear.
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