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South Africans in coffin assault get over 10 years in prison

South Africans in coffin assault get over 10 years in prison | iNFOnews.ca
Theo Jackson, front, and Willem Oosthuizen, back, are seen in the court in Middelburg South Africa Friday, Oct. 27 2017. The two white South Africans have been sentenced to more than a decade in prison for forcing a black man into a coffin and threatening to set him on fire. AP Photo/Thema Hadebe)

JOHANNESBURG – Two white South Africans have been sentenced to more than a decade in prison for forcing a black man into a coffin and threatening to set him on fire.

A judge in Mpumalanga province announced the sentences Friday in a racially charged case that prompted national outrage and debate over the legacy of white minority rule, which ended in 1994.

Farmer Willem Oosthuizen was sentenced to 11 years in prison, and his accomplice, Theo Jackson, was sentenced to 14 years. They were convicted in August of attempted murder, kidnapping and other crimes.

A video showing the attack circulated on social media last year. It shows a man cowering and moaning in a coffin as part of the lid is pushed over his head and upper body.

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Abbey Westbury

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