US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has revoked a controversial pre-trial agreement involving men accused of plotting the September 11 terrorist attacks.
The decision, announced in a memo on Friday, also removes the authority of Brigadier General Susan Escallier, the officer who signed the agreement earlier this week.
The original deal, which reportedly would have spared the alleged attackers the death penalty, faced backlash from some victims’ families.
The five defendants named in the memo are Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak bin Attash, Mustafa Ahmed Adam al-Hawsawi, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, and Ali Abdul Aziz Ali—all held at Guantánamo Bay. The initial agreement had only included three of these men.
“I have determined that, in light of the significance of the decision to enter into pre-trial agreements with the accused, responsibility for such a decision should rest with me as the superior authority,” Austin stated in his memo. He further announced the withdrawal of the pre-trial agreements.
The White House clarified that it did not play a role in the plea deal. Critics, including Brett Eagleson from 9/11 Justice and Terry Strada, who lost her husband in the attacks, had expressed strong discontent with the deal’s leniency. Strada described it as a “gut-punch” to the families affected by the attacks.
The defendants, accused of crimes including attacking civilians and terrorism, have been in custody for years and faced allegations of torture. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the attacks, was subjected to waterboarding 183 times before the practice was banned.
Gary Sowards, Mohammed’s lawyer, expressed disappointment at the sudden reversal, questioning the government’s commitment to due process. The Biden administration reportedly rejected a similar plea deal in September, which had sought assurances about confinement conditions and trauma treatment.
The decision to revoke the plea deal has been praised by some Republicans. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and Senator Lindsey Graham commended the move, viewing it as a necessary correction. Johnson highlighted the need for justice for 9/11 families, while Graham emphasized the importance of sending a strong message against terrorism.
The 9/11 attacks, which led to the “War on Terror” and subsequent invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, remain the deadliest assault on US soil since the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack, which killed 2,400 people.
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