The U.S. government may proceed with the controversial plea agreements involving three men accused of masterminding the 9/11 attacks following a ruling by a Department of Defense appeals court.
The unanimous decision, handed down on Monday night, criticized Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who had attempted to block the deals in August, despite them being approved by a judge overseeing the cases.
The plea agreements concern Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged architect of the 9/11 attacks, and his two accomplices, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi. In exchange for admitting their involvement in the al-Qaeda plot that killed 2,977 people, the men would serve life sentences. The hijackers crashed 2 planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, another into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and the fourth plane, intended for a government building in Washington, D.C., was brought down in a field.
Austin had contended that the families of the victims and others impacted by the resulting wars deserved to see the men stand trial. However, the appeals court ruled that while Austin could restrict future pretrial agreements, he did not have the authority to invalidate those that had already been approved. The court emphasized that the defendants’ confessions would prevent any future trial proceedings.
A senior defense official, speaking anonymously, confirmed that both the Defense and Justice Departments are reviewing the ruling and weighing their options. On Tuesday, the U.S. government filed a motion to delay the plea agreements until January 27 to give officials more time to decide on potential legal actions. A motions hearing for Mohammed’s case is set for January 6.
The appeals court’s decision upholds an earlier ruling by Air Force Col. Matthew McCall, a military commission judge, who had determined in November that the plea deals were valid. McCall stated that allowing Austin to reverse the agreements would effectively grant him an “absolute veto” over any discretionary actions made by the officer overseeing the cases. The Pentagon had appealed McCall’s ruling, leading to the appeals court’s involvement.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, one of the most high-profile figures in terrorism, was captured in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, in March 2003, and has been detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since then.
