A judge from the U.S. Air Force has set a trial date for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind behind the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. The trial, involving Mohammed and three co-defendants, is scheduled to take place before a military tribunal in June 2028. This decision marks a significant development in the prolonged legal proceedings surrounding the detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which have been ongoing for over two decades.
Recent legal proceedings saw a U.S. appeals court rejecting plea agreements that would have spared Mohammed and two co-defendants, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak bin ‘Atash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, from the death penalty. The appellate ruling overturned decisions made by a military judge and the U.S. Court of Military Commission Review in support of the plea deal.
The plea agreement, which had been initially accepted by the official overseeing the Guantanamo war court in 2023, was later revoked in 2024 by then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin under the administration of President Joe Biden. There was opposition from some Republican lawmakers who objected to the possibility of a deal that could spare Mohammed’s life upon conviction.
The trial, as outlined in the 11-page order by Lt.-Col. Michael Schrama, is set to commence on June 5, 2028, involving Mohammed, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, and two other co-defendants. Another individual involved in the case was deemed unfit to stand trial due to mental health issues.
Despite prosecutors’ suggestions to start the trial in January 2027, Schrama dismissed the proposal citing insufficient time for the resolution of pretrial evidentiary matters. This marks the fifth military judge overseeing the case since Mohammed’s capture in 2003, with previous attempts to hold a trial delayed, including a planned trial in 2021 disrupted by the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The admissibility of certain evidence has been a contentious issue, particularly concerning the treatment of Mohammed and other detainees at CIA detention facilities. The 9/11 attacks, which claimed nearly 3,000 lives, including 26 Canadian citizens, were orchestrated by Al-Qaeda, a group designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. in 1999.
Mohammed is accused of plotting the attacks that targeted the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon, with another plane crashing in rural Pennsylvania. He remains one of the most prominent inmates at Guantanamo Bay, where foreign militant suspects were detained following the attacks. Over the years, the detainee population has decreased significantly, with only 15 individuals remaining at the facility following convictions and repatriations.
Notably, Mohammed’s nephew, Ramzi Yousef, is currently serving a prison sentence in Colorado for his role in the 1993 bombing at the World Trade Center that resulted in six fatalities.