Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Trial Stays in Limbo 25 Years After 9/11 as June 2028 Date Looms
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Sep 9
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Trial Stays in Limbo 25 Years After 9/11 as June 2028 Date Looms
3 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Sep 9
Summary
More than two decades after the Sept. 11 attacks killed 2,977 people, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s case is still unresolved, with a military judge only last month setting a trial date for June 2028.
The latest account argues the case stalled because the Obama administration abandoned a planned 2009 federal trial in Manhattan after political backlash, then Congress barred Guantánamo detainees from being transferred to the U.S. mainland.
Military commissions at Guantánamo have since been bogged down by disputes over torture, tainted evidence and procedure; Mohammed’s case is now before its fifth judge, and appeals could still derail the 2028 schedule.
The former Justice Department prosecutor says a civilian case could have secured a conviction long ago using uncoerced evidence, as federal courts previously did in other major terrorism prosecutions.
With the 25th anniversary approaching, the unresolved case underscores how the U.S. still lacks a final legal reckoning for the 9/11 plot’s alleged mastermind and co-defendants.