Malala Yousafzai: Pakistan ‘lied about jailing gunmen for attack on schoolgirl’

 
Malala Yousafzai, who survived being shot by the Taliban (Picture: AP)
Rashid Razaq5 June 2015

Only two Taliban militants were jailed for attempting to murder schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai despite Pakistan claiming that 10 were convicted and imprisoned, it was reported today.

Eight men are reported to have escaped justice following the secret trial, despite all of the accused supposedly being given 25-year sentences.

A senior security source in Pakistan accused officials of lying over the convictions and said the eight were released “quietly, to avoid a media fuss”.

The source told the Daily Mirror: “The trial had absolutely no credibility as nobody was there to witness it but a public prosecutor, a judge, the army and the accused.

"This was a tactic to get the media pressure away from the Malala case because the whole world wanted convictions for the crime.”

Malala, 17, was shot in the head by the Pakistani Taliban in October 2012 after advocating education for women. She now lives with her family in the UK and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year. Pakistan’s military arrested the 10 men last year.

A spokesman for Malala was unavailable for comment.

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