A military judge has said plea deals that spared the architect of September 11 and two other terrorists should be reinstated in a shock ruling.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawasawi all agreed earlier this year to plead guilty to conspiracy charges in exchange for a life sentence.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin dramatically rescinded their agreements after widespread outrage.
The order, which has not yet been publicly posted, invalidated Austin’s demands and was first reported by the Associated Press.
The agreements would spare Mohammed and the others the risk of the death penalty in exchange for guilty pleas in the long-running September 11 case.
This Saturday, March 1, 2003, shows Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, the alleged mastermind of September 11, shortly after his capture during a raid in Pakistan
The order, which has not yet been publicly posted, invalidated Austin’s claims. Walid Bin Attash is seen here on the left, Mustafa al Hawsawi is pictured on the right
Government prosecutors had negotiated the deals with lawyers under government auspices, and the top official of the military commission at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had approved them.
Within days of the deals being made public this summer, Austin issued a brief order saying he was annulling them.
Plea deals in potential death penalty cases related to one of the most serious crimes ever committed on U.S. soil were a momentous step that should be decided by the Secretary of Defense alone, 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.
All three men have been in US custody at Guantánamo Bay since the early 2000s. Mohammed, an Al Qaeda militant, is accused of being the main architect of the attacks.
The families of the September 11 victims said they were “deeply disturbed” after learning of the deals earlier this year.
“We are deeply troubled by 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 President Brett Eagleson.
“These plea deals should not perpetuate a system of closed-door deals that hide crucial information without giving victims’ families an opportunity to learn the full truth.”
The 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 were killed in the attacks on New York City, Washington DC and the downing of a United Airlines plane. Airline plane in a field in Pennsylvania
People run away as the North Tower of the World Trade Center collapses on September 11, 2001
The persecution of the men has suffered from repeated delays and legal disputes, especially over the legal consequences of the interrogation under torture that the men initially underwent while in CIA custody.
The Pentagon and FBI advised the victims’ families last August that the death penalty may need to be taken off the table in prosecuting the men.
They were captured at different times and places in 2002 and 2003 and sent to Guantanamo for trial in 2006.
On September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda conspirators seized control of planes and struck the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon near Washington.
A fourth plane was bound for Washington but crashed in Pennsylvania after crew members and passengers tried to storm the cockpit.
On September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda conspirators took control of planes and struck the World Trade Center in New York, seen here, and the Pentagon near Washington.
It was Mohammed who presented the idea of such an attack on the United States to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Mohammed also received permission from Bin Laden to plot the September 11 attacks, the US 9/11 Commission concluded.
The other suspects are said to have supported the hijackers in various other ways.
Mohammed was captured along with Hawsawi in March 2003 before being held in CIA prisons until their transfer to Guantanamo in 2006.
Officially, the number of casualties resulting from the attacks stands at 2,996, including 2,977 victims and 19 hijackers.