South African radical opposition leader Julius Malema has been sentenced to five years in prison after a court found him guilty of illegally discharging a firearm at a party rally eight years ago.
Magistrate Twanet Olivier delivered the sentence on Thursday, ruling that Malema had deliberately violated firearm laws when he fired an assault rifle into the air at an Economic Freedom Fighters celebration in 2018.
Hundreds of supporters dressed in the party’s signature red gathered outside the court ahead of the sentencing in what has become one of South Africa’s most politically charged legal proceedings.