The US Secretary of Defense revokes a judicial agreement with the alleged chief planner of the 9/11 attacks and other defendants. They could now again face the death penalty.
After heavy criticism, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has revoked a judicial agreement with the alleged chief planner of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and other co-defendants. The Pentagon announced the surprising and very short-term turnaround by publishing a memorandum in which Austin relieved the Defense Department’s supervisor of the relevant proceedings of her duties with “immediate effect.” At the same time, Austin himself took over supervision of the case. Republicans praised the turnaround.
Austin stated in his order that he determined that, given the importance of the decision, “the responsibility for such a decision should rest with me.” This could again put the defendants at risk of the death penalty.
The Pentagon chief attributed his decision to a law that regulates the work of military commissions. The law, passed by Congress and then-President Barack Obama in 2009, also specifies, among other things, who can be charged with which crimes before military commissions.
The controversial deal
On September 11, 2001, around 3,000 people were killed in the worst terrorist attack to date in the United States. Islamist terrorists flew three hijacked passenger planes into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon near Washington. A fourth plane crashed in the state of Pennsylvania. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is considered the chief planner of the attacks. He is also said to have organized the communications and financing of the plan.
The US Department of Defense announced the controversial judicial deal in the case on Wednesday – this too came as a surprise. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other defendants wanted to enter into an agreement with the judiciary and plead guilty with regard to the attacks. The exact details were not made public at first. The further procedure also remained unclear. Just two days later, Austin reversed the decision in an unusual step.
Praise from the opposition
Republicans, who had previously sharply criticized the deal, praised the turnaround. It was right that the US government was distancing itself from the “terrible” deal, wrote the Republican leader of the US House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, on Platform X.
His party colleague, prominent Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, wrote on X that Austin had done the right thing and shown good judgment. “The previous deal would have sent a completely wrong signal to terrorists around the world.”
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has been in the notorious US prison camp at Guantánamo in Cuba for many years and, according to US media reports, would have escaped the death penalty thanks to the agreement. According to the reports, allegations of torture against the USA were central to the deal. Legal experts warned that any confessions in a court case could therefore not stand up.
Sharp criticism of the original agreement
The agreement was met with great incomprehension by Republicans. They saw leniency towards the terrorists as a wrong message to all of America’s enemies – and as a slap in the face for the victims’ families. Several first responders and relatives of victims who did not agree with the deal also spoke out. The New York Fire Department’s union said its members felt “betrayed and disgusted.”
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was arrested in Pakistan in 2003. He was then interrogated by the US secret service CIA. According to a report by the US Senate, he was tortured during the interrogations. In 2006, he was transferred to Guantánamo. There he was to be tried before a military tribunal. However, the proceedings against him and several co-defendants were delayed for years.
The prison camp is located in Cuba at the US naval base Guantánamo Bay. At one point, almost 800 people were imprisoned there. The camp was set up after the terror attacks of September 11, 2001 in the USA under Republican President George W. Bush to detain suspected Islamist terrorists without trial. Human rights organizations have long been calling for it to be closed. However, a small number of prisoners are still being held there.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
