In court with ‘9/11 mastermind’ Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, one of the world’s most famous figures, sat in front of a military barracks at the Guantanamo Bay military base in Cuba, and appeared to listen with rapt attention.

“Can you confirm that Mr Mohammed is pleading guilty to all charges without any exceptions or substitutions?” Judge asked his lawyer mohammed looking.

“Yes, we can, Your Honor,” the lawyer replied.

Sitting in court, 59-year-old Mohammed, his beard dyed orange and dressed in a turban, shirt and trousers, looked a bit like a portrait. he turned around as soon as he was caught in 2003.

Mohammed, who is accused of the 9/11 attacks in the US, was due to be charged this week – 23 years after nearly 3,000 people were killed in what the US government called “the worst crime on American soil in modern history”.

But two days later, when Mohammed was due to enter his sentence – thanks to a deal he struck with US prosecutors – he instead watched in silence as a judge said the proceedings had been halted pending a government complaint. the court.

It is expected to be a landmark week in a case that has faced a decade-long delay. Now, it’s a new problem, continuing into an uncertain future.

“You’re going to be a trialist forever,” a family member of one of the victims of 9/11 said.

Mohammed had previously said that he was planning a “9/11 mission from A-to-Z” – thinking of training pilots to fly commercial planes indoors and take them to Osama bin Laden, the leader of the Islamic group al- Qaeda.

But they still could not admit to the court that they are guilty. This week’s reprieve comes amid controversy over a deal struck last year between US prosecutors and his legal team, in which Mohammed would not have been sentenced to death for pleading guilty.

The US government has a few months tried to break the contractsaying that allowing the deal to continue would cause “irreparable” problems for them and the American people. Those who support the deal see it as the only way to move forward with a case that has been complicated by the torture Mohammed and others have faced while in US custody and question whether it taints evidence.

After prosecutors made a last-minute appeal, the three-judge appeals court asked for a delay to give them time to consider the arguments before ruling.

But the families of the victims had already flown in on a once-a-week trip down to watch the pleas in a viewing gallery, where dark glass separated them from members of the media from the high-security courtroom.

Attendees won their spots at this week’s event through a lottery. They arranged childcare and paid for kennels for their pets to attend – knowing they could be stopped at any time. He learned Thursday night while speaking to reporters at the hotel on the ground that the complaints will not go ahead.

Elizabeth Miller, whose father, New York City firefighter Douglas Miller, died in the attack when she was six years old, said she wanted the union to continue to “resolve,” but noted that there are other families who feel the same way. he was very calm.

“What is disappointing is that every time it goes backwards, every camp has hope and that hope is also destroyed,” he said while other family members nodded in agreement.

“It’s like a never-ending limbo… It’s like a never-ending whip.”

This week’s break is the latest in a series of delays, problems and disputes at the facility, where the US military has now held prisoners for 23 years.

The military prison at Guantanamo Bay was established during the “war on terror” that followed the 9/11 attacks that Mohammed is accused of masterminding. The first detainees were brought there on 11 January 2002.

President George Bush then issued a military order to establish military courts to try non-US nationals, saying they could be held without trial indefinitely and could not legally challenge their detention.

Dressed in bright orange jumpsuits, the 20 men were brought to a makeshift prison known as X-Ray, where the cells were transparent with the tails of the beds on the floor.

The camp, surrounded by barbed wire, is now long abandoned and overgrown – weeds are growing on the wooden towers and signs along the fence say “remove the border” in red letters.

Despite the improvements at Guantanamo, it continues to be criticized by the United Nations and rights groups for its treatment of prisoners. And it continues to challenge US officials and prosecutors who hope to see it shut down.

As president, Barack Obama promised to close the prison during his term in office, saying it was against US policy. These efforts were revived under the Biden administration.

Unlike Mohammed, most of the people who have lived there since its establishment have not been charged.

The prison facilities today are off limits to the press, and access is restricted to those with security clearances.

A short walk away, there is an Irish pub, a McDonald’s, a bowling alley and a museum, which serves soldiers and contractors on the base – many of whom have never been in prison.

As legal teams, journalists and families gathered on the basis of the pleas prepared by Mohammed, a secret operation early in the morning was carried out to fly a group of 11 Yemeni prisoners from a detention center in Oman.

With that transfer, the facility, which once had about 800 inmates, now has 15 — the lowest number in its history.

Of the rest, all but six have been charged or convicted of war crimes, with lawyers arguing their cases in complex cases in high-security courts.

As the court adjourned on Friday, the judge said Mohammed’s requests, if allowed to proceed, could fall under the next US administration.