A military judge has said plea deals saving the architect of 9/11 and two other terrorists should be reinstated in a shocking ruling.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawasawi agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy charges in exchange for a life sentence earlier this year.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin dramatically revoked their agreements after widespread outrage they sparked.
The order, which has not yet been publicly released, struck down Austin’s demands and was first reported by the Associated Press.
The deals would spare Mohammed and the others the risk of the death penalty in exchange for guilty pleas in the long-running 9/11 case.
This Saturday, March 1, 2003 shows Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, the alleged mastermind of 9/11, shortly after his capture during a raid in Pakistan.
The order, which has not yet been publicly released, struck down Austin’s claims. Walid Bin Attash appears here on the left, Mustafa al Hawsawi appears on the right.
Government prosecutors had negotiated the deals with defense attorneys under government auspices, and the top military commission official at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had approved them.
Within days of the agreements becoming public this summer, Austin issued a brief order saying he was voiding them.
The plea deals in potential death penalty cases involving one of the most serious crimes ever committed on American soil were a momentous step that should only be decided by the defense secretary, Austin said at the time.
The Pentagon is reviewing the judge’s decision and had no immediate further comment, said Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary.
The three men have been in US custody at Guantanamo Bay since the early 2000s. Mohammed, an al Qaeda militant, has been accused of being the main architect of the attacks.
Families of 9/11 victims said they were “deeply concerned” after learning of the settlements earlier this year.
‘We are deeply concerned about these plea deals. “While we recognize the decision to avoid the death penalty, our primary concern remains access to these individuals for information,” said 9/11 Justice Chairman Brett Eagleson.
“These plea agreements should not perpetuate a system of closed-door agreements, where crucial information is withheld without giving victims’ families the opportunity to learn the full truth.”
Hijacked United Airlines Flight 175 from Boston crashes into the South Tower of the World Trade Center and explodes at 9:03 a.m. on September 11. Nearly 3,000 people died during the attacks on New York City, Washington DC, and the shooting down of a United Airlines. Airlines plane in a Pennsylvania field
People flee when the North Tower of the World Trade Center collapses on September 11, 2001.
The processing of men has been troubled by repeated delays and legal disputes, especially over the legal ramifications of the torture interrogation the men initially endured while in CIA custody.
The Pentagon and FBI warned victims’ families last August that the death penalty may need to be eliminated in the men’s prosecution.
They were captured at different times and places in 2002 and 2003 and sent to Guantanamo to be tried in 2006.
On September 11, 2001, al Qaeda plotters took control of planes and attacked the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon near Washington.
A fourth plane was headed to Washington but crashed in Pennsylvania after crew members and passengers tried to storm the cabin.
On September 11, 2001, al Qaeda plotters took control of planes and attacked the World Trade Center in New York, seen here, and the Pentagon near Washington.
It was Muhammad who presented the very idea of such an attack on the United States to Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Mohammed also received permission from bin Laden to engineer what would become the 9/11 attacks, the US 9/11 Commission concluded.
The other defendants allegedly supported the kidnappers in other ways.
Mohammed was captured along with Hawsawi in March 2003 before being held in CIA prisons until his transfer to Guantánamo in 2006.
Officially, the number of victims associated with the attacks stands at 2,996, including 2,977 victims and 19 kidnappers.