Malala Yousafzai Attackers Walk Free As Court Secretly Acquits Them

The Pakistani Taliban attackers who shot Malala Yousafzai have walked free. Eight out of the 10 men, who were supposedly sentenced to life, have been freed. Only two are in prison and the others have been secretly acquitted to take off pressure from international opinion.

Malala is a women and children rights activist. She was shot by the Pakistani Talibans who were infuriated by her campaign to allow girls to go to school. They considered her the enemy of Islam and shot her as she was on the bus to school. This incident resulted in international condemnation and the Pakistani government had Malala airlifted to United Kingdom for her treatment. She has lived there with her family ever since.

The Pakistani police has told New York Times on April 30 that all the 10 arrested men had confessed to the crime and were sentenced to 25 years in prison. But when the court published its written judgement, it was revealed that that only two have been convicted and are in prison. The other eight were acquitted due to lack of evidence. Azad Khan, the regional deputy police chief, stressed, that there was no conspiracy or mystery in the case and the alleged attackers were acquitted because of the lack of evidence.

"During the trial, all the 10 persons had admitted and confessed their role in Malala's attack before the judge of the anti-terrorism court. But only two of them, Izhar Khan and Israrullah Khan, were convicted while the remaining eight were freed," Khan said. Several questions have been raised by the competency of the Pakistani judiciary in bringing the Pakistani Taliban killers to justice.

Malala still is an active campaigner for girl’s education. She has been outspoken about militant Islamism and condemned the Boko Haram kidnappings. Her story, “I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban,” brought the problems of Islamic terrorism to the fore. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014.

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