After 25 years… date set for trial of mastermind behind 9/11 attacks
A US military court has set June 5, 2028, as the start date for the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who is accused of being the mastermind behind the September 11, 2001 attacks, along with three other defendants, at the US military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Military Judge Michael Shrama issued the scheduling order, rejecting the prosecution’s request to begin the trial in January 2027 after concluding that issues relating to evidence and pretrial proceedings required additional time to be resolved.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, along with Walid bin Attash, Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali and Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi, faces charges including conspiracy, murder in violation of the laws of war, and terrorism in connection with the case involving the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was arrested in Pakistan in 2003 and held at secret CIA detention facilities before being transferred to Guantanamo in 2006. The case has remained stalled for more than two decades because of legal and procedural disputes over evidence, including confessions that the defence says were obtained through coercion while he was held by the CIA.
The latest development in the case comes after the collapse of a plea agreement process that would have allowed the defendants to avoid the death penalty in exchange for life imprisonment sentences.
A US appeals court later rejected efforts to proceed with those agreements, returning the case to the trial process.
According to the judge’s ruling, the proceedings will begin with the selection of a military jury, composed of members of the armed forces, to serve as jurors. Opening statements will begin 30 days after the jury is formed, followed by the prosecution’s presentation of its evidence and then the defence’s presentation of its case, before the proceedings move to the sentencing phase.
