The Biden administration successfully blocked Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, accused mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, from entering a guilty plea that would have spared him execution. The move halts a plea deal negotiated by the Defense Department and sets the stage for a continued legal battle.
The Biden administration successfully blocked accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed from entering a guilty plea in a deal that would have spared him execution. This development halts an attempt to conclude over two decades of military prosecution marred by legal and logistical issues. A three-judge appeals panel agreed to postpone Mohammed's scheduled Friday plea in a military commission courtroom at Guantanamo Bay , Cuba.
The Biden administration is seeking to invalidate a plea agreement negotiated by its own Defense Department with Mohammed and two 9/11 co-defendants. Mohammed is accused of orchestrating the 9/11 attacks, including the crashes of hijacked airliners into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania. While some relatives of the nearly 3,000 victims support the plea deals, others favor a full trial. The appeals panel emphasized its order is temporary, pending further consideration. The next steps are scheduled for January 22nd, extending the legal battle into the Trump administration. Defense lawyers aimed to finalize the pleas before President-elect Trump's inauguration. The fight pits the Biden administration against US military officials tasked with overseeing justice in the 9/11 attacks. The deal, negotiated over two years and approved by military prosecutors and the Pentagon's senior Guantanamo official in July, stipulated life sentences without parole for Mohammed and his co-defendants. It also required them to answer any remaining questions from victims' families. Legal and logistical challenges have plagued the 9/11 case since charges were filed against Mohammed. The case remains in pretrial hearings with no trial date set. The torture of Mohammed and other 9/11 defendants in CIA custody has been a major obstacle, potentially rendering their statements inadmissible in court. Military prosecutors notified families in the summer that the senior Pentagon official overseeing Guantanamo had approved the plea deal, considering it the 'best path to finality and justice.' Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin unexpectedly scrapped the agreement in August. After the Guantanamo judge and a military review panel rejected Austin's intervention, the Biden administration appealed to the District of Columbia federal appeals court
9/11 Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Guantanamo Bay Plea Deal Biden Administration Military Commission Justice Department
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