A judge from the U.S. air force has set a trial date for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind behind the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. The trial, which will include three co-defendants, is scheduled to take place before a military tribunal in June 2028. This decision comes after two decades of legal challenges surrounding the detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Recently, a U.S. appeals court denied Mohammed and two co-defendants the opportunity to plead guilty under agreements that would have spared them from the death penalty. These decisions overturned previous rulings supporting the plea deal.
The trial is set to commence on June 5, 2028, under the direction of Lt.-Col. Michael Schrama. The scheduling of the trial has been a complex process, with various legal issues arising, including the admissibility of evidence obtained through the torture of detainees at CIA detention sites.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is accused of planning the attacks that resulted in the death of nearly 3,000 people, including 26 Canadian citizens. The trial will address his alleged involvement in orchestrating the hijacking of passenger planes that were flown into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, as well as a plane that crashed in rural Pennsylvania.
Mohammed, a prominent figure in Guantanamo’s detention facility, is one of the few remaining foreign militant suspects still held there. The aftermath of the 9/11 attacks led to the establishment of Guantanamo as a detention center for such individuals, with only 15 detainees left currently after convictions and repatriations.
Additionally, Mohammed’s nephew, Ramzi Yousef, is serving a sentence in Colorado for his role in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing that claimed six lives. The legal proceedings surrounding Mohammed and his co-defendants have been ongoing for years, with this trial marking a significant development in the case.