Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced on Friday that the plea deal previously reached with Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, the alleged mastermind behind the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, has been revoked.
This decision also affects two of his co-conspirators, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi.
This decision effectively reinstates the possibility of the death penalty for the trio.
As earlier reported, the plea deal between the Convening Authority for Military Commissions and the defendants—Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi—was designed to reduce the legal consequences for the accused while allowing them to avoid the death penalty. The agreement, which was signed by retired Brig. Gen. Susan K. Escallier, aimed to achieve this outcome.
Details regarding the terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Secretary Austin’s announcement follows growing pressure from various political groups and advocacy organizations, who contend that showing any leniency to those involved in the 9/11 attacks undermines justice for the nearly 3,000 victims and their families.
“I have determined that, in light of the significance of the decision to enter into pre-trial agreements with the accused in the above-referenced case, responsibility for such a decision should rest with me as the superior convening authority under the Military Commissions Act of 2009,” Austin wrote.
“Effective immediately, I hereby withdraw your authority in the above-referenced case to enter into a pre-trial agreement and reserve such authority to myself. Effective immediately, in the exercise of my authority, I hereby withdraw from the three pre-trial agreements that you signed on July 31, 2024 in the above-referenced case,” he added.
As reported by New York Times:
Mr. Austin was traveling abroad and returned to the United States later that day.
By then, prosecutors in the case had alerted the decision to family members of those killed in the attacks, some of whom expressed disappointment and anger that a death sentence was no longer possible. So did Republican leaders.
A senior Pentagon official said that the decision was the secretary’s alone, and that the White House had no involvement. The official said Mr. Austin had never supported a plea deal and wanted the military commission trials to proceed.
Mr. Austin’s action was met with disbelief by lawyers at Guantánamo Bay who were preparing for a hearing, possibly as soon as Wednesday, for the judge in the case, Col. Matthew N. McCall, to question Mr. Mohammed about whether he understood and voluntarily agreed with the plea.
“If the secretary of defense issued such an order, I am respectfully and profoundly disappointed that after all of these years the government still has not learned the lessons of this case, and the mischief that results from disregarding due process and fair play,” said Gary D. Sowards, Mr. Mohammed’s lead defense counsel.
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