Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, and three co-defendants will face trial before a US military tribunal in June 2028, according to a scheduling order issued by a military judge.
US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Michael Schrama ordered the trial to begin on June 5, 2028, marking the latest development in a case that has been stalled by years of legal disputes involving the four men held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
9/11 trial scheduled after decades of legal delays
The defendants are Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak bin ‘Atash, Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, and Ali Abdul Aziz Ali.
The proceedings will begin with the selection of a panel made up entirely of military service members, who will serve as the jury under military justice rules. Opening statements are scheduled to begin 30 calendar days after the panel is seated.
Prosecutors will then present their evidence, followed by opportunities for the defendants to seek findings of not guilty. The order allows both sides to argue and respond to those motions and gives prosecutors an opportunity to reopen their case.
The defence will begin presenting its principal evidence 60 calendar days after prosecutors conclude their case. The proceedings will ultimately move to a sentencing phase.
Schrama rejected a prosecution proposal to begin the trial in January 2027, saying that date would not provide enough time to resolve outstanding pretrial evidentiary and compliance motions.
Plea deal previously blocked
The latest trial schedule comes after a US appeals court last month rejected efforts by Mohammed and two co-defendants to enter guilty pleas under agreements that would have spared them the death penalty.
The appellate ruling overturned earlier decisions by a military judge and the US Court of Military Commission Review that had supported the plea agreements.
The deals had been offered the previous year and accepted by the official overseeing the Pentagon’s Guantanamo military commission. However, then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin revoked the agreements in August following criticism from Republican lawmakers.
Who is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed?
Mohammed is the detainee at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, which was established by then-President George W. Bush in 2002 to hold foreign militant suspects following the September 11 attacks.
He is accused of orchestrating the plot in which hijacked passenger aircraft were flown into the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon. Another hijacked plane crashed in Pennsylvania.
The September 11 attacks killed nearly 3,000 people and became one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in US history.
The June 2028 trial date represents another major step in a case that has remained unresolved for more than two decades.
