In the United States, authorities announce that they have reached a deal with the alleged mastermind of the September 11 attacks. In exchange for a negotiated sentence, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed agrees to plead guilty.
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They are among the thirty men still detained at Guantanamo prison: Khalid Sheikh Mohammedconsidered the mastermind of the attacks on September 11, 2001 in the United States, and two co-defendants, Walid Bin Attach and Mustafa al Hawsawi.
The 3 men are being held by the UNITED STATES for 20 years and their trial has dragged on since 2012, bogged down in procedures and the question of whether the torture suffered by these men made the evidence against them inadmissible.
Agreement reached after long negotiations
The negotiations lasted more than two years, but with the agreement announced by the Pentagon, the three men finally avoided this trial where they risked the death penalty. And in exchange for life in prison, they agreed to plead guilty to all the charges against them, including the murder of 2,976 people killed in the attacks.
In March 2022, lawyers for the prisoners confirmed that negotiations were underway for a possible plea bargain, rather than a trial before the Guantanamo military tribunal.
The defendants wanted, in particular, a guarantee that they would remain at Guantanamo, rather than being transferred to a federal penitentiary on the American continent, in a solitary confinement cell.
For the American authorities, this allows them to obtain, I quote, ” justice for the victims’ families “.