9/11 mastermind's trial set for June 2028 by US military judge
A US military judge has scheduled the long-delayed trial for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and three co-defendants for June 2028 at Guantanamo Bay
Nearly a quarter-century after the attacks that reshaped global security, the long-stalled justice process for the men accused of orchestrating September 11 has hit yet another distant horizon.
As reported by Reuters, a U.S. military judge has formally scheduled the trial for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and three co-defendants for June 2028 at Guantanamo Bay, pushing the landmark proceedings years past initial projections amid mounting legal battles over classified evidence and past CIA torture methods.
Air Force Lt. Col. Michael A. Schrama formally. set June 5, 2028, as the start date for the military commission trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and three alleged co-conspirators.
As informed the date is 18 months later than the January 2027 schedule proposed by prosecutors.
Mohammed—accused of being the primary architect of the September 11, 2001 attacks—will stand trial alongside Walid bin Attash, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, and Mustafa al-Hawsawi at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The judge noted that extra time is critically needed to resolve complex pretrial disputes, including legal battles over classified evidence, procedural hurdles, and whether statements obtained through severe CIA interrogation methods such as waterboarding can be admitted as voluntary evidence.
The setting of the trial follows the legal collapse of previously negotiated plea agreements that would have spared the defendants the death penalty in exchange for life sentences and cooperation, deals that were ultimately unraveled following political pushback.
Last month, a U.S. appeals court refused to allow Mohammed and two of his co-defendants to plead guilty under agreements that would have spared them the death penalty.
The appellate decision reversed decisions of a military judge and the U.S. Court of Military Commission Review in support of the plea deal.
The agreement had been offered last year and accepted by the official who oversees the Pentagon's Guantanamo war court, only to be revoked last August by then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin amid criticism of the deal from Republican lawmakers.
Under Schrama's 11-page order, Mohammed and three co-defendants — Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak bin 'Atash, Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, and Ali Abdul Aziz Ali will stand trial starting on June 5, 2028.
The trial setting follows the formal collapse of negotiated plea agreements that would have spared the defendants the death penalty in exchange for life sentences, deals that unraveled following political blowback.
The proceedings open with selection of a panel consisting entirely of service members who will act as the jury to hear the case according to rules of military justice.
Opening statements will commence 30 calendar days after the panel is seated, followed by presentation of the prosecution's evidence, after which the defendants may file motions for findings of not guilty.
The order gives both sides opportunities to argue those motions and rebut one another, and for prosecutors to reopen their case.
The defense presented its principal evidence starting 60 calendar days after the prosecution concludes its case.
Mohammed remains the most well-known inmate at the Guantanamo detention facility, which was set up in 2002 by then-U.S. President George W. Bush to house foreign militant suspects following the September 11, 2001, attacks.
He is accused of orchestrating the plot to fly hijacked passenger jetliners into the World Trade Center in New York City and into the Pentagon.
As reported, the 9/11 attacks killed nearly 3,000 people.
