A US military judge declared valid the sentencing agreement negotiated for Khalid Cheikh Mohammed, considered the “mastermind” of the September 11 attacks, as well as for two co-defendants, a decision revoked in early August by the Pentagon after the strong stir that arose. among many relatives of the almost 3,000 victims.
“The military judge ruled that the agreements prior to the trial for the three defendants are admissible and applicable”a US official explained to Agence France-Presse (AFP), on condition of anonymity. This agreement, validated on Wednesday, November 6, by the judge, should avoid the death penalty for these three men, detained at the US military base in Guantánamo.
It was not immediately clear whether prosecutors would appeal the decision. “We are reviewing the decision and have nothing further to add at this time.”indicated, in a statement, the Pentagon spokesman, General Pat Ryder, three months after the revocation of this same agreement by the Minister of Defense, Lloyd Austin.
Khalid Cheikh Mohammed, Walid Ben Attash and Mustafa Al-Hawsawi are accused of terrorism and the murder of nearly 3,000 people in the attacks on US soil, one of the most traumatic episodes in US history. Most people know Khalid Sheikh Mohammed from the photograph taken of him the night he was captured in 2003, with disheveled hair and a bushy mustache, dressed in white pajamas.
A “slap” to the victims’ families
Terms of the agreement have not been made public. According to the New York TimesKhalid Cheikh Mohammed, who boasted to investigators that he had imagined and organized the deadliest attacks in history, and his two accomplices had agreed to plead guilty to criminal conspiracy in exchange for a life sentence, rather than a trial that could have led to his execution.
However, this decision, announced at the end of July, shocked the families of many victims and provoked virulent criticism in the Republican camp, in a country in the midst of a presidential campaign. The Republican leader of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, considered that this announcement had the effect of a “slap” for the families of the victims.
“I have decided, given the importance of the decision, to enter into pre-trial agreements with the defendants. (…)“That the responsibility for such a decision falls on me.”explained Defense Minister Lloyd Austin in August. “Effective immediately, in the exercise of my authority, I hereby revoke all three agreements.” negotiated sentence, he said. A few days later, the Pentagon chief said he wanted a trial: “The families of the victims, members of our armed forces, and Americans deserve to see the military commission trials held in this case.”declared.
Anthony Romero, director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a powerful civil rights organization, considered, for his part, that the negotiated sentencing agreement was “the only possible solution” and that the head of the Pentagon had “exceeded the limits” canceling it. “As a nation, we must move forward (…) give victims’ families answers to their questions.”he added in a news release Thursday.
CIA secret prisons
The three men were never tried, and proceedings to bring them to trial stalled over the question of whether the torture they suffered in secret CIA prisons tainted the evidence against them.
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The 9/11 cases languished for years and the defendants remained detained at the US military base at Guantánamo. This prison, where nearly 800 prisoners were detained, has greatly tarnished the image of the United States abroad. Joe Biden had expressed his desire to close Guantanamo before his election. But the military base remained open.
A Pakistani raised in Kuwait, Khalid Cheikh Mohammed, known as “KSM” (S for Sheikh in English), was transferred to Guantánamo in September 2006. “I was responsible for the 9/11 operation, from A to Z”He proudly confessed before the military court. He also claimed to have participated in around thirty other operations, including Al Qaeda-related attacks in Bali and Kenya, as well as the murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl.
