On July 31, the US Department of Defense announced that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, had agreed to plead guilty.
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| 9/11 terrorist attack mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. |
This development helps open up hope that the two-decade-long case can be closed.
Mohammed and two co-defendants, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, are expected to plead guilty at a military commission in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as early as next week.
According to letters received by federal authorities from relatives of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the terrorist attacks, defense attorneys have offered the men life sentences in exchange for pleading guilty.
According to the New York Times , in a letter to the victims' families, Chief Prosecutor, Office of Military Commissions, Rear Admiral Aaron Rugh said: "In exchange for avoiding the death penalty, the three subjects agreed to plead guilty to all the alleged crimes, including the murder of 2,976 people listed in the indictment."
Pentagon officials declined to immediately release the full terms of the plea.
The confessions came 16 years after the prosecution began and more than 20 years after the tragedy. The US considers Mohammed to be the mastermind behind the hijackings.
Mohammed was arrested by US authorities in 2003. He was detained by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) before being transferred to Guantanamo, where he and two accomplices remain to this day.
The lengthy prosecution and trial process was related to the interrogation measures that US forces applied to these subjects during their detention.
Source: https://baoquocte.vn/nghi-pham-chu-muu-vu-tan-cong-khung-bo-119-dong-y-nhan-toi-dieu-kien-trao-doi-la-gi-280961.html
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