10 attackers reportedly tried to assassinate Malala Yousafzai in 2012. Only two were convicted in a secret April trial.
More than a month after a closed-door trial determined the fate of 10 men reportedly involved in the attempted 2012 assassination of Malala Yousafzai, BBC reports that only two of the attackers were found guilty.
The Pakistani court's judgement, finally released on Friday, shows that eight of the men who stood trial were acquitted — a decision directly at odds with a statement given to The Associated Press by a public prosecutor, who said, "it is life in prison for the 10 militants who were tried by an anti-terrorist court."
For nearly two months, no Pakistani officials corrected the ensuing reports that all 10 men had been sentenced to life in prison (in Pakistan, a life sentence is 25 years). The judgement was finally released after reporters from the Daily Mirror tried to find the 10 men in Pakistani prisons. On Friday, a spokesman for the Pakistani High Commission said the men were found not guilty due to a lack of evidence. The whereabouts of the eight acquitted are unknown.
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Sarah Eberspacher is an associate editor at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked as a sports reporter at The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus and The Arizona Republic. She graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.
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