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, and three co-defendants. The trial is scheduled to take place in June 2028 before a military tribunal, marking a significant development in a legal saga that has spanned two decades for the detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Recent court decisions have prevented Mohammed and two co-defendants from pleading guilty under agreements that would have avoided the death penalty. The appellate ruling overturned prior decisions supporting the plea deal, leading to the upcoming trial. The trial is set to begin on June 5, 2028, as ordered by Lt.-Col. Michael Schrama, rejecting an earlier proposal to start in January 2027 due to the need for additional time to address pretrial motions.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, along with Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and two other co-defendants, will face trial, with a fifth individual deemed unfit to stand trial due to mental health issues. The legal proceedings have been complicated by debates over the admissibility of evidence, particularly concerning the torture experienced by Mohammed and others at CIA detention facilities.
The September 11 attacks, which claimed nearly 3,000 lives, including 26 Canadians, were orchestrated by Al-Qaeda, designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. in 1999. Mohammed is accused of planning the attacks, targeting the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon, with another plane crashing in Pennsylvania. He remains a prominent figure among the detainees at Guantanamo Bay, where foreign militant suspects were detained following the attacks. Despite numerous convictions and repatriations, only 15 detainees remain at the facility.
Notably, Mohammed’s nephew, Ramzi Yousef, is serving a sentence in Colorado for his role in the 1993 bombing at the World Trade Center that resulted in six fatalities.