--- title: Malala Yousafzai: 8 out of 10 Shooting Suspects Acquitted description: Previous reports had indicated all 10 were sentenced to life in prison canonical: https://time.com/3910490/malala-suspects-acquitted/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-05T12:40:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T07:56:51.461Z article:section: World og:title: 8 out of 10 Suspects in Malala Shooting Acquitted og:description: Previous reports had indicated all 10 were sentenced to life in prison og:url: https://time.com/3910490/malala-suspects-acquitted/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta1d7aa1dee55370c/69875ff40b72e375926daf04/malala-yousafzai-nobel-peace-prize.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Malala Yousafzai Nobel Peace Prize og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 8 out of 10 Suspects in Malala Shooting Acquitted twitter:description: Previous reports had indicated all 10 were sentenced to life in prison twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta1d7aa1dee55370c/69875ff40b72e375926daf04/malala-yousafzai-nobel-peace-prize.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Malala Gunmen Secretly Set Free in Pakistan ## Video: Malala: "I Want to Be a Prime Minister" [Watch (HLS stream): Malala: "I Want to Be a Prime Minister"](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/aeF26cvW.m3u8) (1:19)  _Published 2013-10-11. Excerpts from Malala Yousafzai's interview with CNN's chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour._ by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Jun 5, 2015 12:40 PM CUT  Malala Yousafzai in Oct. 2013. Malala Yousafzai in Oct. 2013.The Guardian/Sipa USA by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Jun 5, 2015 12:40 PM CUT News reports in [April](http://time.com/3841553/malala-attack-conviction/ "undefined") indicated that 10 men had been convicted and sentenced to life in prison in connection with the shooting of Malala Yousafzai in 2012\. But now, it seems eight of those men were actually [acquitted](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33018334 "undefined"). Several Pakistani officials confirmed to the BBC that only two men had been sentenced, with one blaming misreporting for the confusion. But one public prosecutor had specifically told the Associated Press after the trial (which was held in secret), “It is life in prison for the 10 militants who were tried by an anti-terrorist court.” The discrepancy emerged when reporters tried to locate all 10 men; the whereabouts of the eight who were acquitted are now unknown. Yousafzai was targeted by the Taliban at age 15 after becoming an advocate for girls’ education. She and her family now live in the U.K. to escape death threats in their native Pakistan. She was awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014. \[[_BBC_](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33018334 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3910490/malala-suspects-acquitted/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3910490/malala-suspects-acquitted/"},"headline":"Malala Gunmen Secretly Set Free in Pakistan","datePublished":"2015-06-05T12:40:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T07:56:51.461Z","description":"Previous reports had indicated all 10 were sentenced to life in prison","url":"https://time.com/3910490/malala-suspects-acquitted/","keywords":["Pakistan","Malala Yousafzai"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta1d7aa1dee55370c/69875ff40b72e375926daf04/malala-yousafzai-nobel-peace-prize.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta1d7aa1dee55370c/69875ff40b72e375926daf04/malala-yousafzai-nobel-peace-prize.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Malala Yousafzai Nobel Peace Prize","caption":"Malala Yousafzai Nobel Peace Prize","creditText":"The Guardian/Sipa USA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/pakistan/","name":"Pakistan"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3910490/malala-suspects-acquitted/","name":"Malala Gunmen Secretly Set Free in Pakistan"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Malala: \"I Want to Be a Prime Minister\"","description":"Excerpts from Malala Yousafzai's interview with CNN's chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/aeF26cvW/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2013-10-11T13:17:05.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/aeF26cvW.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3910490/malala-suspects-acquitted/","duration":"PT1M19S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3910490/malala-suspects-acquitted/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```