Supreme Court Rejects Bid to Revive 9/11 Mastermind's Plea Deal; Military Trial Set for June 2028
Washington — The U.S. Supreme Court on October 19, in an unsigned order on its orders list, rejected an appeal by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, accused of masterminding the September 11, 2001 attacks, and co-defendants Mustafa al Hawsawi and Walid bin 'Atash, declining to revive their plea agreement. According to Reuters, the denial leaves in place the decision to revoke the deal.
The plea agreement, reached on July 31, 2024, would have had the three men plead guilty in exchange for avoiding the death penalty and receiving life sentences without parole. Two days after it was announced, then-Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin revoked the deal; the D.C. Circuit later upheld the revocation, bringing the case to the Supreme Court. The Court's order noted no dissents, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh recused himself and did not participate.
A military trial for the three men at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay is now scheduled to begin on June 5, 2028. In August, a military judge separately ruled that statements Mohammed made to the FBI were not voluntary and cannot be used as evidence at trial.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国最高法院大楼。Jesse Collins 摄，CC BY 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons 发布。
