EGN NEWS DESK
A navy judge is placing the controversial plea offers involving 9/11 terrorist Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two codefendants again on the desk, contradicting an order by Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin earlier this 12 months.
An nameless official advised the Associated Press on Wednesday that the choice to reinstate the offers was made by Air Force Col. and Judge Matthew McCall. The U.S. navy has not introduced the ruling but.
The plea offers within the long-running case in opposition to the terrorists have been struck earlier this summer time. The defendants are incarcerated in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the offers have been authorized by the highest official of the Gitmo navy fee.
If the plea bargains undergo, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed – suspected of being the principal architect of the 9/11 assaults – and two codefendants would keep away from the loss of life penalty in change for responsible pleas.
LAWMAKERS, FAMILIES OF 9/11 VICTIMS REACT TO PLEA DEAL WITH TERRORISTS: ‘SLAP IN THE FACE’
The plea offers have been condemned by various 9/11 victims and U.S. politicians. The Pentagon revoked the offers in July.
“Effective instantly, within the train of my authority, I hereby withdraw from the three pretrial agreements that you just signed on July 31, 2024,” a letter from Austin states.
The Biden administration has distanced itself from the agreements. In July, Pentagon officers mentioned that Austin was stunned by the information of the offers.
9/11 MASTERMIND, 2 OTHERS STRIKE PLEA DEALS WHILE AWAITING TRIAL; FAMILIES OF VICTIMS ‘VERY DISAPPOINTED’
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, a suspected al Qaeda terrorist, is proven on this photograph launched by the FBI October 10, 2001 in Washington, D.C. Mohammed was arrested at a home in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. (Getty Images)
“This isn’t one thing that the secretary was consulted on,” Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh mentioned on the time. “We weren’t conscious that the prosecution or protection would enter the phrases of the plea settlement.”
Terry Strada, the nationwide chair of 9/11 Families United, condemned the plea bargains to Fox News Digital earlier this 12 months.
“[The terrorists] dedicated this heinous crime in opposition to the United States,” Strada mentioned. “They ought to have confronted the costs, confronted the trial and confronted the punishment. Since when do the individuals chargeable for homicide get to name the photographs?”
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Fox News Digital reached out to the Pentagon for remark.
Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
