Ten men involved in the 2012 assassination attempt on Malala Yousafzai were sentenced on Thursday to life in prison by Pakistani anti-terrorist judge Mohammad Amin Kindi. Judge Kundi found the men guilty of the planning and execution of the attack. Ms. Yousafzai was awarded a 2014 Nobel Peace Prize for her campaign on behalf of girls’ education in Pakistan.
A lawyer involved in the case said that legal proceedings against the men continue so that their sentences may yet be enhanced. A life sentence in Pakistan is equal to 25 years. The men have the right to appeal.
Other suspects remain at large. A Pakistani official told NBC News, “Those who fired the bullets have already shifted to…Afghanistan and are living with Taliban.”
Ms. Yousafzai, now 17 years old began an online diary in her native Pakistan in 2007 and 2008 while the Taliban ruled the country. She publicly criticized the Taliban, particularly their policy of restricting the education of girls.
In 2012 two gunmen stopped a school van carrying Ms. Yousafzai and shot her in the head. Two other girls were wounded. By this time she had become nationally known for her campaign for women’s rights and girls education.
Ms. Yousafzai was stabilized and flown to Britain for emergency medical care. She continues to live there because of threats to her and her family in Pakistan. The Taliban have said Ms. Yousafzai remains a target. In December 2014, the day after she was awarded the Nobel prize the Taliban called her “an enemy of Islam,” and vowed to continue attacking their opponents.
As reported in the Wall Street Journal, lawyers close to the case said four other men including the current head of the Pakistani Taliban, Mullah Fazlullah are still being hunted in connection with the Yousafzai attack.
The arrest of the ten men was announced by the Pakistani military last September. At the time, the Taliban denied the military’s claim against them. The Taliban claimed that only three men were involved in the attack.
In 2009, the Taliban were driven out of Swat, Ms. Yousafzai’s original home in northwest Pakistan. But they continue to attack residents of the area.