WASHINGTON — A military appeals court ruled Monday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin cannot vacate plea agreements for September 11, 2001 terrorist attack mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other defendants, a U.S. official confirmed to CBS News. .
Mohammed could plead guilty as early as next week in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, if the Pentagon does not appeal his case to a federal appeals court in Washington. As of Tuesday morning, the Pentagon had not filed any documents with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, according to the official.
If a plea agreement is reached, the three men will plead guilty in separate hearings and in return will be spared the death penalty.
military prosecutor A plea deal has been reached In late July, after more than two years of negotiations with Mohammed and two alleged accomplices, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak bin ‘Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi. The agreement was approved by a senior Pentagon official who oversees the military courts at Guantanamo Bay.
But days after the deal was announced, Austin said he was. cancel a pretrial agreement. “Given the importance of this transaction, I am responsible for that decision,” the defense secretary wrote in the memo.
Meanwhile, the lawyers insisted on a plea agreement Still standing, it raised questions about whether Austin exerted undue or unlawful influence.
The military judge overseeing the case, Air Force Col. Matthew McCall, ruled in November: The appeal transaction is valid and enforceable. After finding that Austin had exceeded his powers when he voided the contract.
The three detainees held at Guantanamo Bay were captured by the United States in 2003, but their prosecution was bogged down for years due to legal delays over whether evidence obtained during interrogations at a secret CIA prison could be used in court. They were transferred to the military prison in Guantanamo Bay in 2006 and formally indicted in 2008.
Prosecutors told the families of the victims of the 9/11 attacks that three detainees were agreed to plead guilty Life sentences for conspiracy and murder and abolishing the death penalty as a possible punishment. They also agreed to answer the family’s questions about their role in the terrorist attack and why.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attack 23 years ago when two hijacked planes struck the World Trade Center in New York. The third attack hit the Pentagon outside Washington, DC. The fourth crashed in a Pennsylvania field while heading to Washington.
Charlie D’Agata contributed to this report.
