Media reports Pentagon director trying to revoke 9/11 plea agreements fails
(MENAFN) A US military appeals court ruled on Monday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin could not revoke plea deals for Khalid sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks, and two other defendants. The deals, negotiated over two years and agreed upon in July, would have allowed the men to plead guilty in exchange for life imprisonment instead of the death penalty.
The decision, reported by several US outlets, follows Austin’s attempt in August to withdraw the plea deals, arguing that such significant decisions should be under his authority. However, defense lawyers argued that Austin had no legal grounds to interfere with the agreements, which had been approved by the Guantanamo court's senior authority.
In November, the presiding military judge, Colonel Matthew McCall, sided with the defense, ruling that Austin had exceeded his authority. This prompted the Department of Defense to appeal the decision to the military court. The three men, who were captured in 2003 and held in secret CIA prisons before being transferred to Guantanamo, had agreed to answer questions from the families of the 9/11 victims regarding their roles in the attacks.
The case had been postponed multiple times, with defense lawyers challenging the use of torture in obtaining evidence, which they argued made much of it inadmissible in court.
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