A South African court sentenced radical left-wing opposition leader Julius Malema to five years in jail on Thursday for firing an assault rifle at a rally eight years ago.
Hundreds of red-clad supporters of the Economic Freedom Fighters party leader gathered outside the court for the sentencing in the politically charged case.
Magistrate Twanet Olivier said Malema had deliberately violated firearm laws by shooting a gun in the air at an EFF celebration in 2018.
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.
The charges related to an incident in 2018 when a video emerged showing Malema using a semi-automatic rifle to fire several shots 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.
But during her sentencing ruling Olivier said “it wasn’t… an impulsive act. It was the event of the evening,” the AFP news agency reports.
She added that while his political standing had no bearing on her findings, he was someone who had a large following in South Africa and should account for his actions.
Addressing some of those followers outside court, he made a series of unsubstantiated allegations against Olivier and said, without offering direct evidence, that the conviction and sentencing were a result of a conspiracy.
“They are trying by all means to silence this voice. They will never win,” AFP quotes him as saying. “We are fighting the enemy and the enemy is white supremacy.”
Malema has a long reputation as being an outspoken, charismatic and radical left-wing politician and has a loyal band of supporters.
Hundreds had come to back Malema with chants and revolutionary songs.
When news came through that he would be allowed to appeal, they started calling out in the Xhosa language “sigoduka naye”, which translates as “we are leaving with him today”.
Malema was once the leader of the youth wing of the governing African National Congress. But after being expelled from the party, following a falling-out with then President Jacob Zuma, he went on to form the EFF.
AFP, BBC, ANN
