A federal appeals court ruled against a plea deal that would have enabled Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged “9/11 mastermind,” and other terrorists responsible for the devastating 2001 attacks to escape the death penalty, according to American and international media reports.
The rejected deal would have seen the alleged terrorists serve life without parole, though it was narrowly refused by the Washington judges 2-1.
Under the deal, Mohammed would have also been required to answer the questions of the relatives and loved ones of some of the nearly 3,000 victims of the attacks.
"Having properly assumed the convening authority, the [Defense] Secretary determined that the 'families and the American public deserve the opportunity to see military commission trials carried out.' The [Defense] Secretary acted within the bounds of his legal authority, and we decline to second-guess his judgment," judges Patricia Millett and Neomi Rao wrote, according to the Associated Press.
About Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
Mohammed was arrested in Pakistan in 2003 and has been detained in the notorious Guantanamo Bay US prison, where questions of torture created fears of tainted evidence, according to BBC News.
After his initial arrest, Mohammed spent three years at secret CIA prisons, where the BBC claimed he was subject to waterboarding, sleep deprivation, and forced nudity.
The Biden administration struck a deal with Mohammed and three other accused 9/11 terrorists, though the then-defense secretary Lloyd Austin overruled the agreement two days later. A military court later ruled in December to revive the agreement.