US reinstates plea deals for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, other 9/11 suspects
Al Jazeera
Military judge rules Defense Secretary Austin did not have the authority to rescind plea agreements with three accused.
A United States military judge has ruled that plea agreements reached with the alleged plotters of the September 11, 2001, attacks are valid, reversing an order by the country’s defence minister.
The order by the judge, Air Force Colonel Matthew McCall, means the three accused men may eventually be sentenced to life in prison instead of death as part of the deal reached earlier, The New York Times and The Associated Press news agency reported on Wednesday.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin rescinded the three separate pretrial agreements on August 2, two days after a senior Pentagon official signed them.
But the military judge at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba ordered that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind, and two accused accomplices, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, can appear before his court to enter pleas. He is reportedly yet to set a timetable.
The judge argued that Austin had the authority to exert supervision over the process when it was ongoing, but did not have the legal authority to rescind the plea deals as the defence minister.
