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 The Paralympic gold medalist was freed on parole last month less
than a year into a five-year sentence for the "culpable homicide" of
Reeva Steenkamp, who he killed on Valentine's Day 2013.
Pistorius himself did not attend the half-day Supreme Court hearing
into his highly-charged case, which has prompted a fierce debate in
South Africa, and accusations from some rights groups that the white
track star got preferential treatment.
Members of the ruling ANC party's Women's League attended the
session and told reporters that Pistorius had been let out too soon
and should have his conviction upgraded to murder, which has a
minimum 15-year sentence.
"We are here for Reeva’s family and the state," the League's Gautain
province spokeswoman, Jacqui Mofokeng, said.
Prosecutors argued that high court Judge Thokozile Masipa had made
legal errors when she decided not to convict Pistorius of the more
serious charge of murder last year.
The five Supreme Court judges said they would give their ruling at a
later date, without specifying when. Legal experts say could convict
Pistorius of murder themselves, order a retrial or reject the
prosecution's appeal, legal experts have said, and their judgment
could take weeks.
State prosecutors said they would aim to show that the high court
approached the circumstantial evidence incorrectly and excluded
relevant evidence.
"The court ignored the most important circumstantial evidence that
would make the respondent's version ... impossible," chief state
prosecutor Gerrie Nel said.
Lead defense attorney Barry Roux said it was unfair to say that the
court had ignored evidence. "She did not make errors in law, she may
or may not have committed factual errors," Roux said.
Steenkamp's mother June, who last week said she did not want
retribution, attended the session in Bloemfontein, 400 km (250
miles) southwest of Johannesburg, but did not make a statement.
"The family feels it is inappropriate to comment on this matter
while the Appeal Court deliberates," said Anneliese Burgess, the
Pistorius' family spokeswoman.
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Pistorius, dubbed "Blade Runner" because of the carbon fiber
prosthetic blades he uses to compete, has denied deliberately
killing his girlfriend, saying he mistook her for an intruder at his
home.
Prosecutors said Pistorius intended to kill Steenkamp, who they said
fled to a toilet during a row. Pistorius shot through the door four
times, hitting her.
At the original trial in September last year, Judge Masipa ruled
that the state had failed to prove intent or "dolus eventualis", a
legal concept that centers on a person being held responsible for
the foreseeable consequences of their actions.
The athlete, whose lower legs were amputated when he was a baby, was
freed two weeks ago in line with sentencing guidelines that say
non-dangerous prisoners should spend only a sixth of a custodial
sentence behind bars.
He has not been seen in public since then and is under house arrest
that confines him to his uncle's home in a wealthy Pretoria suburb
for the duration of his sentence.
South Africa has one of the world's highest rates of violent crime.
(Additional reporting by Dinky Mkhize in Bloemfontein and Mfuneko
Toyana in Johannesburg; Writing by James Macharia; Editing by Andrew
Heavens)
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