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Trial Scheduled After Two Decades of Legal Delays
A US Air Force judge on Wednesday ordered Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks, and three co-defendants to stand trial before a military tribunal in June 2028 . The scheduling order, issued by Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Michael Schrama, represents another milestone in a prosecution stalled for nearly two decades by prolonged legal disputes over the four Guantanamo Bay detainees .
The trial is scheduled to begin on June 5, 2028, 18 months later than the January 2027 start that prosecutors had requested . Schrama rejected the prosecutors’ proposal, stating the earlier date would leave too little time for the “resolution of pretrial evidentiary and compliance motions” .
The Accused and Charges
Mohammed, a US-educated engineer, is accused of developing and directing the plot to crash hijacked airliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, with another hijacked plane flying into a field in Pennsylvania . The 9/11 attacks killed nearly 3,000 people .
He faces trial alongside three alleged accomplices:
They are among the last of the detainees held at the US military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba .
Plea Agreement Controversy
The case was further complicated when a US appeals court blocked Mohammed and two co-defendants from entering guilty pleas under agreements that would have removed the possibility of death sentences . The deals, reached last year, would have stipulated life sentences without parole for Mohammed and two co-defendants . However, then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin withdrew his approval in August after the agreements drew strong criticism from Republican lawmakers .
Trial Process
Under Schrama’s order, proceedings will open with the selection of a panel consisting entirely of service members who will act as the jury . Opening statements will commence 30 calendar days after the panel is seated, followed by the prosecution’s evidence, after which defendants may file motions for findings of not guilty . The defense presents its principal evidence 60 calendar days after the prosecution concludes its case, followed by a sentencing phase .
Mohammed remains the most well-known inmate at Guantanamo, captured in Pakistan in 2003 and held there since 2006 . The 2028 trial depends on the case meeting deadlines along the way and could again be delayed, as a trial was previously scheduled for 2021 but later canceled
