Military Appeals Court Upholds Plea Deals for 9/11 Suspects

A military appeals court has ruled that U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin lacks the authority to revoke plea agreements made with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11 attacks, and two other defendants. This decision was reported by multiple news outlets, including the Associated Press and CBS News, citing anonymous U.S. officials.

The Department of Defense has since filed a motion to postpone the upcoming plea hearings until January 27. This delay is intended to allow for consultations with the Department of Justice regarding a potential challenge to the ruling in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. A hearing for Mohammed is set to occur next week.

The plea deals, reached in late July after extensive negotiations, would permit the three defendants to plead guilty to the September 11 attacks, which resulted in nearly 3,000 fatalities. In exchange, the death penalty would be replaced with a sentence of life imprisonment.

Under the terms of the agreements, Mohammed and his co-defendants would also provide information to the families of the victims about their motivations and roles in the attacks. However, in early August, Secretary Austin announced the withdrawal of these plea deals, asserting that the significance of the agreements warranted his direct involvement in the decision-making process.

Defense attorneys contended that Austin's actions constituted unlawful interference, arguing he lacked the legal authority to revoke the deals that had already been sanctioned by the highest military court at Guantanamo Bay. Their position was supported by Air Force Colonel Matthew McCall, the judge overseeing the case, who ruled in November that Austin had overstepped his authority when he rescinded the agreements. This ruling prompted the Department of Defense to appeal to the military appeals court.

Mohammed and his co-defendants were apprehended in 2003 and held in various secret CIA facilities before their transfer to Guantanamo Bay. They were initially scheduled to face trial in January 2021, but the proceedings have been delayed due to defense arguments that the use of torture against the suspects rendered much of the evidence against them inadmissible in court.