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Olugbemi. Adeyinka Ogunleye
1 week ago
Overview
South Africa's opposition leader Julius Malema sentenced to five years in prison over gun incident
Leading South African opposition politician Julius Malema, 45, has been sentenced to five years after being found guilty of the illegal possession of a gun and firing it in public.
But Magistrate Twanet Olivier allowed the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters and MP to appeal against the sentencing, meaning that he was not immediately taken to prison.
Earlier, standing in court in a dark suit and red tie, Malema showed little emotion as Olivier read out the sentence even though his political future was at stake.
Last year, he was convicted of five offences, including the unlawful possession of a firearm, discharging it in public and reckless endangerment.
Reuters Julius Malema in a black suit and red tie walks out of court and waves at supporters who can be seen in the background. Malema was able to leave court and greet his supporters as the appeal process has now begun
If his sentence is upheld, Malema would be disqualified from being an MP for five years after leaving prison.
However, political analyst Sandile Swana told the BBC that the appeals process was likely to take several years so the EFF leader would be able to pursue his political career in the meantime. The charges related to an incident in 2018 when a video emerged showing Malema firing a semi-automatic rifle in the air during his party's fifth anniversary celebrations held in the country's Eastern Cape province.
During the trial in KuGompo City, which is the new name for East London, Malema told the court that he had fired the shots in celebration
More: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9wqeggd27yo
