US military tribunal paves way for possible plea deals for 9/11 suspects | News from September 11

A United States military appeals court rejected Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin’s attempt to dismiss the possible plea agreements for the alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks and his two co-conspirators.

The deals could see three men – Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi – plead guilty to the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. In exchange, they would be spared the possibility of the death penalty.

A plea hearing for Mohammed, who is accused of masterminding the killings, is scheduled for next week.

Both the New York Times and the Associated Press reported Monday night that a military appeals court had ruled against Austin.

The decision upheld a previous ruling by a military judge, Col. Matthew McCall, who ruled that Austin lacked standing to reject the plea deals after their initial approval.

News of the possible settlements emerged several months ago. They signaled a possible off-ramp for a long-complicated case the use of torture about prisoners purged during the so-called “global war on terror” launched by the US after the 9/11 attacks.

Legal experts said the use of torture – which former President George W Bush’s administration called “enhanced interrogation” – could prolong or prevent a conviction.

For example, discoveries that Majid Khana former al-Qaeda courier, was tortured at a black location of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), which caused a public outcry. The CIA has denied the allegations, but Khan’s lawyers have described how he suffered sexual abuse, starvation and water-logging.

In 2021, a military jury of eight officers sentenced Khan to 26 years in prison, the shortest possible sentence. But seven of the eight council members urged the government to offer clemency, given the nature of Khan’s torture.

Like Khan and the other 9/11 defendants, Mohammed and the other two defendants are being tried by a special military commission established under World War II laws that allow foreign defendants to be prosecuted outside the US justice system.

While the Pentagon’s designated representative initially signed the plea deals, Austin tried to revoke the deals in August amid pressure from lawmakers and family members of the victims, who felt the deals were too lenient.

Austin later said he believed Americans deserved a chance to experience the trials.

Defense attorneys, however, charged that Austin’s effort to revoke the plea deals amounted to unlawful interference in the case.

Despite Monday’s decision, Austin can still appeal the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which could cause further delays.

Years of hearings

Pre-trial hearings for the three men in the case and the fourth defendant, Ammar al-Baluchi, lasted more than a decade. Unlike his three co-defendants, al-Baluchi did not agree to plea negotiations.

All four defendants were held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The military prison became an enduring symbol of US abuses after the 9/11 attacks, with dozens of prisoners still held there without rights guaranteed by US law.

US President Joe Biden’s administration took office hoping to close the plant for good, but it remains open as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office on January 20.

The Guantanamo Bay facility, which once held 800 prisoners, housed approximately 40 people when Biden took office in 2021.

Several have since been transferred to other countries, including four in the past two weeks.

One of them includes Tunisian prisoner Ridah bin Saleh al-Yazidi. On Monday, the Pentagon announced that it did repatriated to Tunisia.

Despite being granted a transfer more than a decade ago, al-Yazidi was held at Guantanamo for years, as no agreement had previously been reached with the Tunisian government.

Al-Yazidi, a suspected member of al-Qaeda, was never charged after he was detained in Pakistan near the Afghan border in 2001.

According to the Pentagon, 26 people remain incarcerated at the Guantanamo Bay facility. Of that group, 14 have the right to transfer.