Defense Secretary Austin revokes plea deals for 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and accomplices
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin has overturned a plea agreement involving Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind behind the September 11, 2001, attacks, and two other defendants, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa Al-Hawsawi. This decision, reported by media outlets, reinstates their cases as death penalty cases.
The plea deals had been reached earlier this week by the military commission at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. However, Austin, in an order released Friday night, stated that the decision to accept or reject the plea agreements was within his authority, citing the “significance of the decision” as the reason for nullifying the agreements.
“I have determined that in light of the significance of the decision to enter into pre-trial agreements with the accused… responsibility for such a decision should rest with me,” Austin said in a memorandum addressed to Susan Escallier, who oversaw the case.
“I hereby withdraw from the three pre-trial agreements that you signed on July 31, 2024, in the above-referenced case,” the memo said.
Letters sent to the families of nearly 3,000 victims of the September 11, 2001, attacks revealed that the recently negotiated plea deal would have resulted in life sentences for the three primary defendants—Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid bin Attash, and Mustafa Al-Hawsawi—without the possibility of a full trial or death penalties. The plea agreements had been reached earlier this week, and the defendants were expected to formally enter their pleas next week.
Some victim families criticized the deal for eliminating the chance of a full trial and potential death sentences, arguing that it compromised justice for the victims.
The US military commission handling the cases has been mired in pre-trial hearings and preliminary legal issues since 2008. The cases have been significantly delayed by the torture endured by the defendants while in CIA custody, complicating the admissibility of evidence and prolonging the uncertainty of trial outcomes.
For all the latest updates, download PGurus App.
- India hits back at Bangladesh over Murshidabad remarks: ‘Focus on your own minority rights’ - April 18, 2025
- Trump renews threat to fire Fed Chair Powell amid Supreme Court battle over agency independence - April 18, 2025
- FBI arrests Harpreet Singh alias ‘Happy Passia’ in US, accused of orchestrating 14 terror attacks in Punjab, wanted by NIA - April 18, 2025
