{"id":56255,"date":"2026-04-16T15:26:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T15:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=56255"},"modified":"2026-04-16T15:26:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T15:26:10","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignjulius-malema-dodges-immediate-jail-as-court-allows-appeal-on-five-year-sentence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2026\/04\/16\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignjulius-malema-dodges-immediate-jail-as-court-allows-appeal-on-five-year-sentence\/","title":{"rendered":"Julius Malema dodges immediate jail as court allows appeal on five-year sentence"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"mvp-content-main\">&#13;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_64101\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-64101\" class=\"wp-image-64101 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Julius-Malema-calls-on-Bafana-Bafana-to-boycott-2026-World.jpg?resize=600%2C443&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"443\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Julius-Malema-calls-on-Bafana-Bafana-to-boycott-2026-World.jpg 600w, https:\/\/fakazanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Julius-Malema-300x222.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-64101\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Julius Malema<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Julius Malema has scored a partial legal victory after the court allowed him to appeal his five-year prison sentence.<\/p>\n<p>The Economic Freedom Fighters leader was sentenced by Twanet Olivier at the East London Regional Court on Thursday, 16 April 2026, following his long-running firearm discharge trial.<\/p>\n<p>Olivier had earlier handed down a five-year sentence for unlawful possession of a firearm, alongside additional penalties including two years for ammunition possession and fines or alternative jail time for discharging the weapon and related offences.<\/p>\n<p>The sentences were ordered to run concurrently, effectively leaving Malema with a five-year term, and he was declared unfit to own a firearm.<\/p>\n<p>Malema wasted no time in challenging both the conviction and the sentence.<\/p>\n<p>While the magistrate made it clear she was not reconsidering her findings on guilt, she opened the door for a higher court to weigh in on the punishment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis court abides by its decision as stated on record. This court has not had a change of heart and clearly stands firm on its decision to convict,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>However, she acknowledged that another court could reach a different conclusion on sentencing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis court does not have any intention to stand in the way of such a possibility.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As a result, Malema will remain free on warning while the appeal process unfolds, putting any immediate jail time on hold.<\/p>\n<p>The case stems from a 2018 video filmed during the EFF\u2019s anniversary celebrations at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium, where Malema was seen firing what appeared to be a rifle in front of supporters.<\/p>\n<p>He was convicted on five counts in October last year, following a trial that stretched over several years, with delays pushing proceedings from his first court appearance in 2021 to a full trial that only began in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>Despite attempts by the defence to have the charges dismissed earlier in the process, the court ultimately found him guilty.<\/p>\n<p><!-- CONTENT END 4 -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#Julius #Malema #dodges #jail #court #appeal #fiveyear #sentence<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#13; Julius Malema Julius Malema has scored a partial legal victory after the court allowed him to appeal his five-year&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":47719,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mzansi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56255"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56255\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56256,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56255\/revisions\/56256"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}