Julius Malema has been sentenced to five years in prison by a South African court for illegally firing a firearm during a political rally.
The Economic Freedom Fighters leader was convicted over a 2018 incident in which he discharged a semi-automatic rifle into the air during the party’s fifth anniversary celebrations in the Eastern Cape.
Delivering the ruling in East London, Magistrate Twanet Olivier said Malema had deliberately violated firearm laws. “It wasn’t… an impulsive act. It was the event of the evening,” she stated, rejecting arguments that the action was spontaneous.
Malema had been found guilty last year on multiple charges, including unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition, discharging a weapon in a public space, and reckless endangerment. In his defence, he claimed the firearm was not his and said he fired the shots to energise the crowd.


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