(MENAFN- Arab News) ISLAMABAD: Eight of the 10 men convicted and jailed for attempting to murder Pakistani schoolgirl and activist Malala Yousafzai have been actually cleared officials said Friday.
The Nobel-prize winning teenager was shot in the head in October 2012 by Pakistani Taleban militants who boarded her school bus in an attack that also wounded two of her friends and shocked the world.
In April legal and security officials announced that a court had sentenced 10 men to life imprisonment over the attack following a trial in Malala's hometown of Mingora in Pakistan's northwestern Swat district.
The suspects had been detained by the army during a major anti-militant offensive and the existence of the trial was kept secret until after its conclusion. No media were present for any hearings.
The secrecy surrounding the trial which was held behind closed doors raised suspicions over its validity.
Salim Khan Marwat the Swat district police chief said that contrary to the earlier announcement the anti-terrorist court had cleared all but two of the suspects. 'Two of them were sentenced to life imprisonment while eight others were acquitted' he said 'I have no knowledge where the eight persons are now either in military custody or released.'
Azad Khan the deputy inspector general of police for Malakand division of which Swat forms a part confirmed the details and said the trial had been held under military supervision.
A senior court official with close knowledge of the case also confirmed the news which emerged in a report in Britain's Mirror newspaper.
'Two of them were convicted and eight others were acquitted because of insufficient evidence and no proof' the official said. 'The two Israrullah and Izhar were sentenced to 25 years jail term which is equivalent to life imprisonment.'
A senior security official in Mingora insisted the court had sentenced all 10 men to life imprisonment accusing the police of lying.