Eight of Malala Yousafzai's Attackers Have Been Secretly Freed

They were sentenced to life in prison.

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Update, 6/5: No justice? Eight of Malala's hitmen have been secretly freed, reports The Daily Mirror. Turns out, the "sentence" was a sham for these eight, who were quietly tried and not convicted. Only two of the men accused are serving the 25 years they were sentenced.

According to the Mirror, a senior security source says that officials lied about the trial and convictions and released the eight quietly to "avoid a media fuss."

Enraged doesn't really begin to cover it.

Original story, 4/30: On Thursday, a court in Pakistan sentenced 10 men to life in prison for the 2012 attack of education activist Malala Yousafzai, the BBC reports. A life sentence in Pakistan is 25 years.

Malala was only 15 when a group of men believed to be part of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan militant group shot her in the head as she boarded a school bus in the Swat valley. Two of her schoolmates were also injured in the attack.

Despite being in critical condition, Malala made a full recovery and was awarded the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize for her ongoing efforts to promote educational rights for women all over the world. She now lives in Birmingham, England with her family.

We're glad to see some justice served in the world, albeit long overdue.

You should also check out:

Malala Yousafzai Wins the Nobel Peace Prize at Age 17

Malala Yousafzai Writes a Moving Letter to Nigeria's Abducted Schoolgirls One Year After Their Kidnapping

Malala Yousafzai Releases I Am Malala, Leaves Jon Stewart Speechless

Diana Bruk
Diana Bruk
Viral Content Editor

My writing has regularly appeared in The New York Times, The Paris Review, Salon, VICE, Guernica, The New York Observer, BuzzFeed, Cosmopolitan, Seventeen, Esquire, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, and many more publications.

I was previously the Senior News Editor at Best Life Online and the Viral Content Editor in the Newsroom of Hearst Digital Media. My portfolio consists of a vast and diverse body of work that includes personal essays, lifestyle articles, breaking news posts, and viral content. My areas of expertise, however, are Russia, sex and relationships, and mental wellness.