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<blockquote><div class="quotetitle">Quote from <a class="profile-link highlight-moderator" href="https://lawguide.co.ke/understanding-law/legal-forum/profile/lawyer/">Lawyer</a> on July 15, 2025, 7:01 am</div><div id="pl-6961"  class="panel-layout" ><div id="pg-6961-0"  class="panel-grid panel-no-style" ><div id="pgc-6961-0-0"  class="panel-grid-cell"  data-weight="1" ><div id="panel-6961-0-0-0" class="so-panel widget widget_sow-editor panel-first-child panel-last-child" data-index="0" data-style="{&quot;background_image_attachment&quot;:false,&quot;background_display&quot;:&quot;tile&quot;,&quot;background_image_size&quot;:&quot;full&quot;,&quot;background_image_opacity&quot;:&quot;100&quot;,&quot;border_thickness&quot;:&quot;1px&quot;}" ><div
			
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	<p dir="ltr">Washington, D.C. - A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. overturned a plea agreement on July 11, 2025 that would have allowed Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and two co-defendants to plead guilty and avoid the death penalty. The 2-1 decision ends an attempt to resolve a military prosecution that has spanned over two decades, marked by legal and logistical challenges.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The plea deal, negotiated over two years and approved by military prosecutors and the Pentagon's senior official for Guantanamo Bay in 2024, offered life sentences without parole for Mohammed and co-defendants Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi. The agreement was accepted by the official overseeing the Guantanamo war court but was revoked by then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in August 2024. Austin argued that the decision on such a significant case should rest with him, citing the need for a full trial to serve justice for victims' families and the American public.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Mohammed, captured in Pakistan in 2003, is accused of orchestrating the 9/11 attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people when hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania. The case has been stalled by pre-trial disputes, including challenges over evidence obtained through controversial interrogation methods during Mohammed's detention at Guantanamo Bay.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The court's ruling, supported by Judges Patricia Millett and Neomi Rao, stated that Austin had the legal authority to withdraw the plea agreements, as no performance of the deal's promises had begun. This decision reverses a prior military judge's ruling that Austin lacked the authority to cancel the deal, a finding upheld by the U.S. Court of Military Commission Review in December 2024.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Relatives of the 9/11 victims have expressed mixed views on the plea deal. Some opposed it, arguing a trial is essential for justice and uncovering more details about the attacks. Others supported the agreement, seeing it as a way to conclude the prolonged case and gain answers from the defendants, who would have been required to respond to victims' families' questions.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The ruling signals that the case will proceed toward a potential death penalty trial at Guantanamo Bay, though no timeline has been set. The decision prolongs a legal saga that continues to weigh heavily on victims' families and the nation, with no immediate resolution in sight.</p>
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