Court sentence South African opposition politician Julius Malema to five years in prison for illegal possession of firearm
A court in South Africa sentenced opposition politician Julius Malema to five years in prison on Thursday for firing a rifle into the air at a political rally in 2018.
The case stems from an incident at an Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) political rally that year.
What was the Julius Malema court case?
Malema was convicted in October of unlawfully possessing a firearm and firing a weapon in a public place. Prosecutors said he discharged a rifle into the air during the rally.
In delivering the sentence in a court in KuGompo City, formerly East London, Magistrate Twanet Olivier said Malema had deliberately violated firearm laws by shooting the gun at the EFF event.
“It wasn’t… an impulsive act,” the magistrate said. “It was the event of the evening.”
Malema pleaded not guilty, insisting the shots were only intended to be celebratory.
The politically-charged case drew a show of support outside the court, where hundreds of red-clad EFF supporters gathered for the sentencing.
DW’s Dianne Hawker-Kalubi says the sentence means he can no longer serve as a member of parliament. The court later granted Malema leave to appeal the sentence.
EFF supporters have warned they will stage protests if their leader is sent to prison.
Was the case against Malema politically motivated?
During sentencing, the magistrate stressed that the ruling was not aimed at the opposition party itself. “It is not a political party that has been convicted here, but an individual,” Olivier said.
Malema has said the charges against him were politically motivated. He claims the case was driven by AfriForum, a lobby group representing members of South Africa’s Afrikaner minority.
South Africa’s judiciary is constitutionally independent, and courts have repeatedly rejected claims of political interference in legal proceedings.
AfriForum has long criticized Malema for using the anti-apartheid chant “Kill the Boer” at political rallies. The group says the slogan constitutes hate speech and incites violence against white South Africans.
South African courts, however, have ruled that the chant does not amount to hate speech. Judges have said it must be interpreted within the historical context of the struggle against apartheid, the system of white minority rule, which ended in 1994.
