There’s news on the latest maneuvers on the battle–not on the battlefield but in a military courtroom–between the U.S. government and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 tragedy which claimed many innocent lives, including those of nearly 3,000 Americans, in 2001. The case also includes two of his accomplices, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi.
The Defense Department, as we previously wrote, originally wove into the case a plea agreement with the co-conspirators that would allow them to avoid a trial–likely ending in the death penalty–and instead spend their lives in prison. Then Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin rescinded that agreement in recent days, taking the authority back from a prosecutor (who is no longer handling the case), as I wrote just under a week ago.
BACKGROUND:
BREAKING: SecDef Austin Orders Plea Deal to Be Revoked for Sept. 11 Mastermind, Accomplices
Biden’s Pentagon Approves Plea Deal for 9/11 Conspirators but Won’t Tell the Terms of the Agreement
The attorneys for the defendants have now lashed out in a new filing this week, writing that the plea deal should stay in place–and having the gall to say Austin does not have the authority to revoke it, according to military rules. It also sounds like the defense lawyers are considering stonewalling any further hearings on the case, whatever good that will do their clients.
via CNN:
Defense counsel for the alleged 9/11 conspirators at Guantanamo Bay claimed Wednesday that a move by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to revoke a previously-agreed-upon plea deal violated military regulations and exposed the system as “corrupt.”
“We have had an unprecedented act by a government official to pull back what was a valid agreement … For us, it raises very serious questions about continuing to engage in a system that seems so obviously corrupt and rigged,” Walter Ruiz, defense counsel for Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, said during a hearing at Guantanamo on Wednesday.
Wednesday’s pretrial hearing, which has been scheduled for months, followed a whiplash decision by Austin to revoke a plea deal that had been announced just two days prior last week. A press release from the Pentagon originally said that the convening authority for military commissions, Susan Escallier, had entered into pretrial agreements with Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘Attash and Hawsawi.
The agreement was the result of more than two years of negotiations. Ruiz noted that parties, including the prosecution, had worked “for years … in good faith” to reach the pretrial agreement, “only to have that taken away.”
We’ll keep you posted on where this goes from here, but as my colleague Andrew wrote so eloquently in a recent column (linked below), as the wrangling plays out in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, justice is delayed for the victims of that terrible day and their loved ones.
Related:
23 Years After Killing 3,000, Still No Justice Levied on the Top Plotters of 9/11
