Pakistan sentences 10 to life terms over shooting of Malala Yousafzai

A Pakistani court has sentenced 10 men to life in prison for their role in the 2012 shooting of Malala Yousafzai, the teenage Nobel laureate who defied the Taliban with her calls for girls' education and won worldwide acclaim.

The sentences were announced in an anti-terrorism court in Swat, the picturesque northern valley that was once a stronghold of the Taliban until a military offensive in 2009 broke their hold.

Malala, who is now 17, was shot in the head in October 2012 when she was returning home from school with her classmates on a bus. After a brief stay in a military hospital in Rawalpindi, she was airlifted for treatment to Britain, where she is now studying and living with her exiled family.

In September 2014 the Pakistani military announced the arrest of 10 men it accused of being involved in the attack. Officials said the gunmen took orders from Maulana Fazlullah, the leader of the main Pakistani Taliban branch, who is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan, when they attacked Malala and the other students.

The militants held sway in the Swat Valley until 2009, terrorising the population with their brutal reign, marked by public killings and floggings.

Malala rose to prominence after her blog chronicled life in the valley under Taliban rule and the wish of a young girl to get an education. Guided by her father, Ziauddin, an advocate for education, she became a symbol against Taliban oppression. Her campaigning rankled the Taliban, who threatened to kill her.

She is still unable to return to her homeland because of the Taliban threats.

Convictions

The convictions yesterday were the first for the attack on the teenager. “Judge Mohammad Amin Kundi, in his verdict, gave 25 years’ jail to all of these people,” said a court official in Swat.

A security official said none of the four or five men who carried out the attack was among the 10 men sentenced. “But certainly they had a role in the planning and execution of the assassination attempt on Malala,” said a police official.

Police believe the gunman who shot Malala escaped into Afghanistan.

Malala has won awards for her bravery and was the joint winner of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize along with Kailash Satyarthi, an Indian campaigner for the rights of children. She used her Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in Oslo last December to criticise “strong” governments that had the resources to begin wars but not to enable universal education.

“Why is it that countries which we call strong are so powerful in creating wars but are so weak in bringing peace?” she asked.

Raising her voice in the silent room, where she was given a rousing standing ovation, she added: "We have reached the moon 45 years ago, and maybe we will soon land on Mars. Then, in this 21st century we must be able to give every child a quality education." – New York Times/agencies