Military judge finally sets new date for trial of men accused of plotting 9/11 after previous attempts were cancelled

A U.S. Air Force judge has officially set a new trial date for the men accused of orchestrating the September 11, 2001, attacks. According to Reuters, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Michael Schrama issued an order on August 26, mandating that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and three co-defendants appear before a military tribunal starting on June 5, 2028. This move is the latest development in a legal process that has been stuck in a deadlock for two decades.

The case, which is being held at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has been plagued by endless delays and procedural hurdles. Per CNN, the trial is now scheduled to begin 18 months later than the January 2027 start date that prosecutors had originally requested. 

Lieutenant Colonel Schrama reportedly explained in his 11-page order that this extra time is vital for the “resolution of pretrial evidentiary and compliance motions.” Specifically, the court needs to address disagreements regarding which pieces of evidence can actually be presented during the trial. 

A complex journey to prosecution

Per the outlets, Mohammed is widely considered the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, which resulted in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people. He is accused of conceiving the plot to train pilots to fly commercial passenger jetliners into the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon. 

Mohammed faces these charges alongside three alleged accomplices: Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak bin ‘Atash, Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, and Ali Abdul Aziz Ali. Interestingly, there are reports that a Russian plan to cause comparable damage to 9/11 was foiled last year.

The road to this 2028 date has been incredibly messy. According to the BBC, pre-trial hearings have been dragging on for more than a decade, largely complicated by questions surrounding the treatment of the detainees while in U.S. custody. Following his 2003 arrest in Pakistan, Mohammed was held at secret CIA prisons known as “black sites” where he was subjected to simulated drowning, or “waterboarding,” 183 times. 

These and other “advanced interrogation techniques,” such as sleep deprivation and forced nudity, have reportedly created a massive legal headache. Karen Greenberg, author of The Least Worst Place: How Guantanamo Became the World’s Most Notorious Prison, noted that the use of torture has made it “virtually impossible to bring these cases to trial in a way that honors the rule of law and American jurisprudence.” 

Per the BBC, she added, “It’s apparently impossible to present evidence in these cases without the use of evidence derived from torture. Moreover, the fact that these individuals were tortured adds another level of complexity to the prosecutions.”

The legal situation became even more complicated last year when a plea deal, which would have spared the defendants the death penalty in exchange for life sentences and cooperation, was blocked. Reuters reported that the deal had been accepted by the official overseeing the Pentagon’s war court. However, it was later revoked by then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. 

According to the BBC, the government argued that Mohammed and his fellow accused had perpetrated “the most egregious criminal act on American soil in modern history.” Additionally, they claimed that enforcing the agreement would “deprive the government and the American people of a public trial as to the respondents’ guilt and the possibility of capital punishment, despite the fact that the Secretary of Defense has lawfully withdrawn those agreements.”

The upcoming 2028 proceedings are set to follow a strict timeline. Per Reuters, the process will begin with the selection of a panel of service members who will serve as the jury. Opening statements are slated to commence 30 calendar days after the panel is seated. Following the presentation of the prosecution’s evidence, the defense will have the opportunity to file motions for findings of not guilty. The trial is expected to conclude with a sentencing phase.

Whether this date will actually hold is anyone’s guess. CNN noted that a trial was previously scheduled for 2021 before it was ultimately canceled. For now, the defendants remain at Guantanamo Bay. The facility, which once held many more detainees, now houses only a small number of individuals. It should be noted that there have been plans at work to convert the facility into an immigrant detention center. 

As the legal system continues to navigate these historic challenges, the families of the victims remain caught in a cycle of waiting for a resolution that has been delayed for years.