The US Secretary of Defense has revoked a plea deal that would have allowed men accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks to avoid the death penalty.
On Wednesday it was announced that prosecutors had reached a deal for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi plead guilty to conspiracy charges.
Just two days later, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin vetoed the deal, which sparked controversy as it would have seen the trio face life in prison instead of the death penalty at Guantanamo Bay.
Austin said he had relieved Susan Escallier, who oversees the Guantánamo war tribunal, of her authority to enter into pretrial agreements in the case and that he had taken responsibility himself.
In a letter he said he had withdrawn the three pretrial agreements “effective immediately,” reinstating them as death penalty cases.
Austin said he issued the order “in light of the importance” of the plea agreement, which had been negotiated between the defendants, their attorneys and Escallier.
Mohammed, accused of being the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks which killed 2,977 people, was captured in Pakistan in 2003.
He has been detained at Guantanamo Bay along with Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi since December 2006. A year later, he confessed to planning the 9/11 attacks and many other terrorist incidents after being tortured during interrogations.
The three were expected to formally plead guilty under the agreement next week.
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The decision to settle with the three suspects upset some families of 9/11 victims.
Terry Strada, national president of 9/11 Families United, said many wanted the men to admit their guilt at trial.
“For me, personally, I wanted to see a trial. And they just took away the justice that I was hoping for, a trial and the punishment,” he said.
“They were cowards when they planned the attack. And they are cowards today.”
Michael Burke, whose brother, Fire Captain Billy, died in the collapse of the North Tower of the World Trade Center, said: “To me, it has always been shameful that these guys, 23 years later, have not been convicted and punished for their attacks, or for crimes.
“I never understood how it took so long.”
Ramzi bin al Shibh, who was also due to stand trial on charges of helping to plan 9/11, was declared unfit to stand trial last year as torture in CIA custody left him delusional and psychotic.
Another defendant, Ammar al-Baluchi, was not included in the plea deal.
This story originally appeared on News.sky.com read the full story
