SOUTH African opposition politician Julius Malema has been sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of illegal possession of a gun and firing it in public.
Reports say Malema’s lawyer indicated he will appeal the decision to prevent the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters and member of parliament from being incarcerated.
Malema was last year convicted of five offences, including unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition, discharging it in a public space, and reckless endangerment.
The charges relate to a 2018 incident when a video emerged showing Malema using a semi-automatic rifle to fire several shots into the air during his party’s fifth anniversary celebrations in the Eastern Cape province.
Receiving a sentence of more than one year disqualifies him from being an MP, but that will not be applied until his opportunities to appeal have been exhausted.
(BBC)
