Oscar Pistorius trial: 'Pistorians' hoping for an acquittal

Oscar Pistorius' thousands of supporters dominated social media discussions about his guilt or innocence and are vocal in their love of the fallen golden boy.

They are called the Pistorians, and as their hero begins his trial for the murder of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp today, they are keen to tell the world that the shooting of Oscar Pistorius' girlfriend was, in his words, a "devastating accident".

On the strength of the evidence made public so far, it might seem an unlikely outcome, but for many of the athlete's fans around the world, that would be the only just result.

televised trial

The trial that will grip South Africa is expected to last up to six weeks. After an application by a cable television station, many of the court proceedings will be televised, raising inevitable comparisons with the 1994 trial of O.J. Simpson, the American footballer who was tried and acquitted of murdering his wife and her alleged lover at her Los Angeles home. Like Pistorius, Simpson had fanatical supporters who refused to consider him capable of such grievous acts.

But the trial at North Gauteng high court in Pretoria will be the first of such a high profile in the age of Twitter and social media, with every minute and hour of coverage subjected to unprecedented scrutiny, comment, and online chatter.

Featuring prominently throughout will be the Pistorians, also known as the Pistorian Guard, who took their name from the Twitter hashtag they used in the early days after the arrest of Pistorius for the model's shooting on February 14 last year.

They believe that Pistorius, 27, is a "decent human being" and has been subject to unfair trial by public opinion. They show their support by tweeting messages of hope and love to the world's most famous paralympic athlete, discussing aspects of the evidence in Facebook forums and, periodically, attacking those who suggest his actions have been anything but honourable.

In doing so, they have been compared to #teambreezy, the Twitter fanclub of singer Chris Brown, found guilty of assaulting his girlfriend, the singer, Rihanna.

- AP