The US Secretary of Defense has intervened in a plea deal agreed to by the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.
Days after news that Khalid Sheikh Mohammad and two of his alleged accomplices had agreed to plead guilty to avoid the death penalty, Secretary Lloyd Austin released a statement overturning that decision.
Pre-trial proceedings for the three will now continue, with the possibility of death sentences, at U.S. offshore prison Guantánamo Bay.
9/11
On 11 September 2001, terrorists from the Islamist extremist group al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial U.S. flights. Three were deliberately crashed – two into the World Trade Centre in New York City and one into the U.S. Department of Defense in Virginia.
Passengers and crew successfully diverted the fourth plane from its planned target, Washington, D.C. It crashed in a field in Pennsylvania, killing all 44 people on board.
Mohammad and alleged accomplices were charged with around 3,000 counts of murder over 10 years ago.
Guantánamo Bay
Following their capture by the CIA, the 9/11 suspects were held at Guantánamo Bay. Originally a U.S. naval station, it was set up as an offshore detention facility in 2002.
A 2014 U.S. Senate report revealed evidence the CIA tortured people suspected of involvement in the 9/11 attacks, including Mohammad, who was waterboarded 183 times in two weeks.
Waterboarding is a form of torture when a person has water poured into their nose and mouth, simulating drowning.
The report found that torture – which the CIA called “enhanced interrogation techniques” – was “ineffective” and led to detainees lying.
At one stage, Mohammad admitted he had “simply told his interrogators what he thought they wanted to hear”.
Mohammad admitted to authorities in 2007 that he was the architect of the 9/11 attacks.
Pre-trial proceedings have since been complicated by arguments about whether any of his evidence can be admitted to court, because it came either during or after he was tortured.
Plea deal
Last week, the three prisoners struck a plea deal to avoid the death penalty.
In a letter to families of 9/11 victims, the Department of Defense confirmed the prisoners would plead guilty and be sentenced to life in jail.
The plea deal was signed off by Susan Escallier, a military lawyer assigned to oversee Guantanamo proceedings.
The following day, Austin released a statement revoking both the plea deal and Escallier’s authority over the 9/11 court proceedings.
What’s next?
The New York Times reports pre-trial proceedings in Mohammad and his alleged accomplices’ cases will now likely continue.
Austin’s order also means it’s likely the death penalty is still available as a sentence for the case.
It’s not yet clear when a full trial could begin.
Response
Some 9/11 family support groups had expressed their disappointment about the “closed-door agreements” of the plea deal.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson called the arrangement “unthinkable”.
“The families of those murdered by these terrorists have waited for justice. This plea deal is a slap in the face of those families,” Johnson said.
