Oscar Pistorius' lawyers have criticized an Australian TV network, after it broadcast the footage of the Paralympian reenacting the events of the night he shot dead his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.
The video shows Pistorius – who is currently undergoing a murder trial in a Pretoria court – walking on his stumps with his hands clenched, as if he was getting ready to shoot at the toilet door, where he is said to have fired a gun to kill his girlfriend on Valentine's Day last year.
He is seen crying and screaming as part of the reenactment.
The video was aired only in Australia by broadcaster Channel 7 on Sunday.
A spokesperson for Pistorius has said the footage was originally filmed in order to create a forensic animation about what had happened that night, but that it was "obtained illegally."
"The company was engaged to visually map the events on the night of the accident. As part of this process, certain video footage was filmed," Brian Webber said in a statement.
"The 'visual mapping' was for trial preparation only and was not intended to be used for any other purpose," he said adding that the footage had been "obtained illegally and in breach of the non-disclosure agreement with the Evidence Room."
"Its usage also constitutes a breach of privilege as this material was produced for trial purposes on the instructions of a commissioner, and the ownership of the copyright vests in the commissioner. No permission for the disclosure thereof has been given."
The spokesperson said that airing of the footage constituted a massive breach of trust and "invasion of the family's privacy."
"It has come to our attention that Channel 7 purchased this footage unlawfully. In addition, during our engagement with Channel 7, we received an undertaking that they would not air any of the material before the end of the trial," he said.
Mark Llewellyn, the executive producer of Sunday Night – the show that aired the footage – has denied the footage was obtained illegally.
"The material shown on Sunday Night goes to the heart of both the prosecution and defence cases, including the account provided by Oscar Pistorius," Llewellyn said in a statement according to Sportal.com.au.
"We would not have run the footage, if we thought we had obtained it illegally. The story was run in Australia only and not made available to any other territory."
