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.

South African opposition leader Julius Malema has been sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of illegal possession of a firearm and discharging it in public.

CBI News gathered that Malema’s lawyer said they will appeal the decision to prevent the Economic Freedom Fighters leader from being jailed.

A five-year sentence could also disqualify the 45-year-old from serving as an MP. In court, Malema wore a dark suit and red tie and showed little emotion as the magistrate handed down the sentence. He was convicted last year on five counts, including unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition, discharging a firearm in a public space, and reckless endangerment.

The charges stem from a 2018 incident when video footage showed Malema firing several shots into the air with a semi-automatic rifle during the EFF’s fifth anniversary celebrations in the Eastern Cape. Malema told the court the firearm was not his and that he fired the shots to energise the crowd, according to SowetanLIVE. After being found guilty last October, Malema told supporters outside the East London court that “going to prison or death is a badge of honour. ”We cannot be scared of prison to die for the revolution. Whatever they want to do, they must know we will never retreat,” he said.[or]He vowed to challenge the judgment all the way to the Constitutional Court, South Africa’s highest court.

The prosecution began after Afrikaner lobby group AfriForum opened a case against Malema when the video went viral. AfriForum has had a contentious relationship with Malema and the EFF.