Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday overrode a of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the North American country.
“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,” read a memo signed by Austin and 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 published by the Pentagon on Friday said Austin overrode a plea agreement with the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks on the United States.
Plea would have removed death penalty possibility
The military commission at Guantanamo Bay, where alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi are being held, had announced on Wednesday it had agreed to guilty pleas of conspiracy from the men in exchange for a life sentence, instead of facing a trial that could lead to their executions.
However, after letters were sent to families of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the al-Qaida attacks explaining the plea agreement stipulated the three would serve life sentences, the decision was met with backlash.
Many lawmakers, including House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, had strongly criticized the plea deals.
However, the said after Wednesday’s announcement it had no prior knowledge of it.
Trials delayed by potential torture
The cases against the three 9/11 defendants have been stuck in pre-trial maneuverings for years, while the accused remained held at the military base in Cuba.
Much of the legal issues surrounding the men’s cases has focused on whether they could be tried fairly after having undergone methodical torture at the hands of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the years after 9/11.
km/sms (AP. Reuters, AFP, DPA)
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