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| Marco Rubio seeks answers as eight charged in Malala shooting go free | Marco Rubio seeks answers as eight charged in Malala shooting go free |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio is demanding answers after a Pakistani court quietly freed eight of the 10 men charged with coordinating the shooting of schoolgirl and Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai. | Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio is demanding answers after a Pakistani court quietly freed eight of the 10 men charged with coordinating the shooting of schoolgirl and Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai. |
| Related: Pakistan says only two convicted for attempted murder of Malala Yousafzai | Related: Pakistan says only two convicted for attempted murder of Malala Yousafzai |
| Rubio, a senator from Florida, joined forces with California senator Barbara Boxer, a Democrat, in a letter to the US ambassador to Pakistan seeking “an honest and transparent account” of why the attackers were released. | Rubio, a senator from Florida, joined forces with California senator Barbara Boxer, a Democrat, in a letter to the US ambassador to Pakistan seeking “an honest and transparent account” of why the attackers were released. |
| The senators wrote that they were “alarmed” by reports that eight of the men found responsible for carrying out the 2012 attack, in which Yousafzai was shot in the head while traveling home from school in Swat valley, were acquitted despite being sentenced to 25 years in prison in April. Their trial was held behind closed doors and raised further questions about the Pakistani judicial system, all too often regarded as broken and criticized for its lack of accountability. | The senators wrote that they were “alarmed” by reports that eight of the men found responsible for carrying out the 2012 attack, in which Yousafzai was shot in the head while traveling home from school in Swat valley, were acquitted despite being sentenced to 25 years in prison in April. Their trial was held behind closed doors and raised further questions about the Pakistani judicial system, all too often regarded as broken and criticized for its lack of accountability. |
| “These reports raise significant concerns about the transparency and the accountability of the Pakistani judicial system,” Rubio and Boxer wrote. “As such, we respectfully request that the Pakistani judicial system provide an honest and transparent accounting of the events surrounding the cases against these ten individuals and continue its important work to bring all those responsible for the brutal attack against an innocent teenage girl to justice.” | “These reports raise significant concerns about the transparency and the accountability of the Pakistani judicial system,” Rubio and Boxer wrote. “As such, we respectfully request that the Pakistani judicial system provide an honest and transparent accounting of the events surrounding the cases against these ten individuals and continue its important work to bring all those responsible for the brutal attack against an innocent teenage girl to justice.” |
| Jalil Jilani, the US ambassador to Pakistan, told the Guardian he has requested the details of the case from Islamabad, the nation’s capital. | Jalil Jilani, the US ambassador to Pakistan, told the Guardian he has requested the details of the case from Islamabad, the nation’s capital. |
| A senior police official in Pakistan has said the attackers were released because the evidence against them was insufficient. But a prosecutor said the men had confessed to plotting the attack. The actual gunmen who carried it out are believed to have fled to Afghanistan. | A senior police official in Pakistan has said the attackers were released because the evidence against them was insufficient. But a prosecutor said the men had confessed to plotting the attack. The actual gunmen who carried it out are believed to have fled to Afghanistan. |
| Taliban gunmen claimed responsibility for the attack on Yousafzai, which drew global attention and turned the teenager, now 17, into a symbol of the plight of girls seeking an education in the developing world. Yousafzai’s subsequent advocacy for both education and girls earned her the Nobel peace prize last year, making her the youngest recipient of the award in history. She has also penned a memoir, I Am Malala, met with world leaders including Barack Obama, and addressed the United Nations. | Taliban gunmen claimed responsibility for the attack on Yousafzai, which drew global attention and turned the teenager, now 17, into a symbol of the plight of girls seeking an education in the developing world. Yousafzai’s subsequent advocacy for both education and girls earned her the Nobel peace prize last year, making her the youngest recipient of the award in history. She has also penned a memoir, I Am Malala, met with world leaders including Barack Obama, and addressed the United Nations. |
| Rubio and Boxer urged the Pakistani government “to re-double its efforts” to bring those responsible for Yousafzai’s attack to justice. Rubio is the chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee’s subcommittee on western hemisphere, transnational crime, civilian security, democracy, human rights and global women’s issues, and Boxer is its ranking member. | |
| Read the full letter below: | Read the full letter below: |
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