- A U.S. military judge ruled Friday that confessions made by alleged 9/11 attacks mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to FBI agents are inadmissible and cannot be used against him at trial, The New York Times reported.
- The ruling comes just before the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
- Prosecutors can appeal the ruling. Mohammed's trial has been repeatedly delayed, and a plea deal that would have removed the death penalty was withdrawn last year following protests from the relatives of some victims of the 9/11 attacks.
- Much of the legal jousting in the 9/11 defendants’ cases has focused on whether they could be tried fairly after having undergone torture at the hands of the CIA.
A U.S. military judge has ruled that confessions made by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, to FBI agents are inadmissible for his upcoming trial, which is set for June 5, 2028, at Guantanamo Bay.1
The ruling comes just before the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania. Judge Lieutenant Colonel Michael Schrama concluded that Mohammed’s interrogations in 2007 at Guantanamo were also inadmissible, citing an “unbroken continuation of the CIA’s psychological conditioning and severe coercion.”2
Prosecutors have already excluded statements made by Mohammed after his capture in 2003, when he was held by the CIA and subjected to brutal treatment including waterboarding. The judge noted that FBI agents failed to inform Mohammed of his rights to remain silent and to consult a lawyer, leading to the conclusion that his statements were not voluntarily given.
The prosecution has the option to appeal the ruling. Mohammed’s trial has faced numerous delays, and a plea deal that would have removed the death penalty was withdrawn last year following protests from victims' relatives. Much of the legal debate surrounding the 9/11 defendants has focused on the fairness of their trials after experiencing torture at the hands of the CIA.345
“The ruling, which cited the prosecution's failure to prove the statements were voluntary, comes just before the 25th anniversary of the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. Prosecutors can appeal, and a plea deal removing the death penalty was withdrawn last year after protests from victims' relatives.”
