Published on: 03 August, 2024 09:45 IST
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin nullified a plea agreement with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, just two days after a deal was announced that reportedly would have removed the death penalty as an option.
The agreements, involving Mohammed and two of his alleged accomplices, were revealed on Wednesday and seemed poised to advance their long-standing cases towards resolution. However, the announcement provoked anger among some relatives of the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
“I have determined that, in light of the significance of the decision to enter into pre-trial agreements with the accused… responsibility for such a decision should rest with me,” Austin stated in a memorandum addressed to Susan Escallier, who was overseeing the case.
The memo further stated, “I hereby withdraw from the three pre-trial agreements that you signed on July 31, 2024, in the above-referenced case.”
The legal proceedings against the 9/11 defendants have been entangled in pre-trial maneuvers for years, with the accused being detained at the Guantanamo Bay military base in Cuba.
Earlier this week, The New York Times reported that Mohammed, along with Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, had agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy in exchange for life sentences, instead of facing a trial that could potentially result in their executions. Much of the legal contention surrounding their cases has revolved around whether they could receive a fair trial after enduring systematic torture by the CIA in the years following 9/11.