Three men accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks, including alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, have reached plea agreements in the military commissions process. The defendants, Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, are expected to plead guilty to lesser charges that could spare them the death penalty. The plea agreement was negotiated between the accused, their attorneys, and the Convening Authority for Military Commissions, Susan Escallier. The defendants are scheduled to appear at a hearing at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, next week.
The defendants were initially charged and arraigned in 2008 in connection with their alleged roles in the 9/11 attacks, which resulted in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was captured in Pakistan in 2003 and held with other Al Qaeda detainees at Guantánamo Bay. The exact details of the plea agreement are unclear and sentencing is not expected to occur for months.
Defense lawyers for the detainees held at Guantánamo Bay have criticized the government for delays in their cases, attributing the delays to the government’s alleged attempt to cover up details of torture of detainees at secret CIA prisons before they were moved to Guantánamo. Military prosecutors, however, have blamed defense lawyers for the delays, citing the numerous motions challenging the government’s evidence filed by the defense.
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