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Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced on Friday that he is canceling a previously agreed plea deal with Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, the alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, along with two of his co-conspirators, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi.
This decision reinstates the possibility of the death penalty for the three individuals.
The plea deal was reached between the Convening Authority for Military Commissions and the defendants, and was signed by retired Brig. Gen. Susan K. Escallier.
Its purpose was to reduce the legal consequences for the accused while allowing them to avoid capital punishment, although specific terms were not disclosed.
Secretary Austin’s announcement follows increasing pressure from various political factions and advocacy groups who argue that any leniency towards 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.
New York Times reported:
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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