Military prosecutors are proceeding with the trial of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the self-described mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, without a key confession that was barred from being used as evidence. The US government has opted not to appeal a ruling by a military judge that disallowed Mohammed's 2007 statements to the FBI, in order to avoid further delays to the trial, which is now scheduled for June 5, 2028.
In a letter to victims’ families, the government stated that an appeal could jeopardize the trial date. Appeals of similar rulings have historically taken years, contributing to the frustration of victims' families who have awaited justice for nearly two decades. The cases against Mohammed and his alleged accomplices, Walid bin Attash, Mustafa al-Hawsawi, and Ammar al-Baluchi, have faced numerous legal challenges, including debates over the admissibility of confessions obtained through torture.
Prosecutors had previously agreed not to use evidence obtained from torture interrogations at CIA facilities after the defendants were captured in 2003. They had intended to present Mohammed's confession from Guantánamo Bay, where he has been held since 2006, as a significant piece of evidence. However, military judge Lt. Col. Michael Schrama ruled that Mohammed's statements were inadmissible due to the severe coercion he experienced during his detention.
The military maintains that it has other evidence linking Mohammed to the attacks, including phone logs and financial records. Mohammed had been expected to confess to orchestrating the attacks in 2024 as part of a plea deal with the Biden administration that would have spared him the death penalty. However, following public backlash from some victims' families regarding the abandonment of the death penalty, the administration sought to cancel the deal, resulting in further delays to the trial.