A Washington appeals court has halted a plea deal involving the alleged master planner of the September 11 attacks and other co-defendants. He apparently wants to plead guilty to avoid the death penalty. But there is great political resistance to this.
At the request of the government of US President Joe Biden, the court imposed a temporary ‘administrative stay’, that is, a temporary suspension of the proceedings. This will pause all steps related to the proposed agreement until a final decision is made.
The Defense Department had argued in the appeals court that “the harm to the U.S. government and the public would be irreparable” if the court allowed the settlement. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had already tried to block this this summer, but a military court declared his move invalid. This brought the agreement between the suspects and the judiciary back into effect.
The worst terrorist attack in American history
On September 11, 2001, approximately 3,000 people were killed in the worst terrorist attack to date in the United States. Islamist terrorists sent three hijacked passenger planes into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon near Washington. A fourth plane crashed in the US state of Pennsylvania.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who has been imprisoned for years in the infamous US prison camp Guantanamo in Cuba, is considered the main planner of the attacks. He is said to have organized both the financing and communications for the operation.
Together with two co-suspects, he strives for an agreement with the judiciary, a so-called ‘plea agreement’, in which he wants to admit guilt. The exact details of the agreement have not yet been announced. According to American media, they will be spared the death penalty as part of the agreement. Austin initially supported the agreement, but withdrew his support after heavy criticism.
Guantánamo very controversial
The outgoing US government recently released another eleven prisoners from the Guantanamo prison camp and transferred them to Oman. The freedmen are men from Yemen. The prison camp is located in Cuba, at the US naval base Guantánamo Bay. At one point, nearly 800 people were imprisoned there.
The camp was established after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the US under President George W. Bush to detain suspected Islamist terrorists without trial. Human rights organizations have long called for closure.
Source: Krone
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