Pakistan hands life jail term to 10 for gun attack on Malala

A court in north-west Pakistan has sentenced 10 men to life imprisonment over the attack on Malala Yousafzai, a teenage activist known for advocating the rights of women to education.

In October 2012, armed militants boarded her school bus in the north-western Swat valley of the country, opening fire on her and also injuring Shazia Ramzan and Kainat Riaz, her school mates.

Though the three narrowly escaped death, the incident shot them, particularly Malala, into the limelight and drew more attention to the plight of the average Pakistani activist.

Two years after the incident, Asim Bajwa, the country’s army spokesman, said 10 suspects, working under the instructions of Mullah Fazlullah, the chief of the Pakistani Taliban, had been arrested in connection with the attack.

“The group involved in the attack on Malala Yousafzai has been arrested,” he had said.

The men are currently being interrogated and will face an anti-terrorism court soon.”

The men were subsequently tried in an anti-terrorist court in Swat before they were convicted on Thursday.

But Ataullah Khan, a 23-year-old militant, who was identified by a police report as the main suspect, did not appear in the list of the 10 convicts.

Also not included in the list of the 10 sentenced, according to an unnamed security official quoted by Reuters, were the gunmen who boarded the bus with Khan.

Meanwhile, Shahbaz Rajput, a senior lawyer said life imprisonment in Pakistan “means 25 years in jail and the convicts can appeal against the sentence in the high court”.

Malala has received numerous accolades in recognition of her advocacy.

In 2013, European Union awarded her the prestigious Sakharov human rights prize and Time magazine named her as one of its most influential people in 2013.

She is also a recipient of the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize.

The United Nations has dedicated July 15, her birthday, as an international day.

She currently lives in Birmingham, the United Kingdom, with her family, since they have been unable to return to Pakistan because of Taliban death threats.

Ramzan and Riaz are now studying at Atlantic College in Wales.