This afternoon, Judge Bam of the North Gauteng High Court granted alleged murderer Oscar Pistorius permission to travel abroad as a condition of his bail, which was granted in February.

Pistorius has admitted to killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, but refutes the accusation of murder, citing mitigating circumstances that he believed Steenkamp to be an intruder at the time that he shot her.

Pistorius’ trial has yet to begin, but supporters of Pistorius argue that the Olympic sprinter has already been found guilty by the court of public opinion, and that his right to a fair trial free from influence has been tarnished.

Pistorius may well agree with those sentiments.

If Pistorius elected to flee South Africa, where could he go, and could he get away with it?

South Africa currently has extradition agreements with the following countries:

• Botswana
• Lesotho
• Malawi
• Swaziland
• USA
• Canda
• Australia
• Israel
• Egypt
• Algeria
• Nigeria
• China
• India

Extradition treaties with these countries have been signed, but need to be ratified.

• Iran
• Argentina
• Hong Kong

Extradition treaties with these countries have been negotiated, but not yet signed:

• Zambia
• Hungary
• Namibia
• Brazil
• South Korea
• Cuba
• Mexico
• United Arab Emirates
• Taiwan

Interestingly, South Africa also has an extradition treaty in place with Italy, where Oscar often travelled for training and competition.

So, if Oscar wanted to flee, he should avoid any one of those places, to be on the safe side.

Before we get to the where, let’s establish the how.

Pistorius may travel to a country, and announce his intention not to return to South Africa to face trial, arguing that he has been unfairly subjected to a trial by media, and had no choice but to run, or he may choose drop off the grid entirely.

First, cash is king. If Pistorius elects to flee, he will need a healthy supply of money to pay for international travel (official or otherwise), invest in assets, and cover the cost of living while he sets up new income streams. If Pistorius elects to fly under the radar, he will need to pay to commission new documents, and pay off numerous officials on either side of every border that he crosses,

Secondly, Pistorius will need to befriend an official of the country, or municipality to which he plans to flee, before he takes his flight. This remains applicable for whether Pistorius elects to make his whereabouts known, or drop off the grid. A sympathetic official will defend Pistorius’ in the face of perceived injustice, should the athlete wish to make his whereabouts known, and will provide access to counterfeit documents, should he wish to disappear.

Thirdly, Pistorius will almost certainly have to commit to severing all ties, and never come home.

Now, the where:

Switzerland

A thriving economy, four national languages (although that doesn’t include English), home of the Red Cross, ample sledding in the Alps in the winter… It’s a country of under eight million people with an excessively low crime rate, and no extradition treaty with South Africa. Switzerland has always remained neutral in wars and in general done its own thing, independent of the rest of Europe.

Lake Malawi

Lake Malawi – it’s basically Thailand, but with better food, and fewer law enforcement officials. With the right cash reserves, Oscar could set up a pleasant little dive shake on any speck along this vast shoreline.

Tuvalu

Tuvalu has extreme isolation as its major plus point.

What does Wikipedia have to say about the place?

It comprises three reef islands and six true atolls spread out from 6° to 10° south.^[3] Its nearest neighbours are Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa and Fiji. Its population of 10,544 makes it the third-least populous sovereign state in the world, with only Vatican City and Nauru having fewer inhabitants.

Nice. We see a prosperous little bottle store and a life of counting one’s blessings for Oscar in the South Pacific.

Andorra

Located in the Eastern Pyrenees between Spain and France, the country of Andorra and her 77,000 citizens are often forgotten or overlooked, and boast the world’s highest life expectancy. With neither an extradition treaty nor diplomatic relations with South Africa, Andorra is considered a tremendous tax haven by the wealthy. Sure, the winters are very cold and the summers very cool, but a mostly-sausage diet is better than prison.

Argentina

Okay, sure, so we have an extradition treaty with Argentina, but it hasn’t been ratified. Additionally, Argentina is a massive country, with wide open space enough for countless Nazis to have disappeared into after World War II. Argentina is currently making a call for its many illegal immigrants to fess up in exchange for amnesty. If Pistorius does, and is revokes his South African citizenship for Argentinian, he may never be extradited at all.

Will he? Won’t he?