The U.S. Government has filed a request to prevent a military tribunal from accepting plea deals offered by three men accused in the planning of the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, including the alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
The Justice Department has filed its motion with the Washington, D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday to prevent the war tribunal at Guantanamo from moving ahead with the plea deals negotiated last summer. The government attorneys asked the court to suspend the proceedings, including the Friday hearing of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s plea agreement.
The filing stated that “the allegations against the respondent set forth their extensive role as the counselor’s commanders and conspirators for the murder of 2,976 persons, the injury to numerous civilians and soldiers, and the destruction of property worth tens or billions of dollars.” Later, it was argued that “this Court ought to issue a writ mandamus and a prohibition to the Military Commission directing that they recognize that the Secretary legitimately retracted from the pretrial agreement with the respondents and prohibiting that
Mohammed and two other defendants struck a deal last summer that allowed them to plead to guilt of their alleged role in the 9/11 attacks, in exchange for being spared the death penalty.
Soon after, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin attempted to revoke these deals. He wrote in a memorandum that, “in light” of this decision’s significance, he should be the only one with the authority to approve plea bargains and not a subordinate official who had accepted them.
Austin was ruled out by the judge in the 9/11 case, and then by a military appellate court. They said that Austin had intervened too late. After the ruling by the military court of appeal, the Defense Department announced that it was weighing its options, including whether it should go to a more senior court.
Two other defendants are also involved in this case. One has not negotiated a deal and the other was ruled mentally unfit for trial.
According to the motion filed on Tuesday, the plea agreement, which is still sealed, would see the three defendants pleading guilty to seven charges, including murder, conspiracy, and terrorism, as well as an eighth charge of intentionally causing severe bodily injury.
When asked in November about why he had tried earlier in the year to revoke the plea deals, Austin said, “I thought at that point that it was important enough that I should be the person to decide on this. And I still feel that same way. Again, I won’t comment on anything that could happen in the future, but again I will just emphasize that I still feel the same way.”
