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US Military Appeals Court Allows 9/11 Plea Deals to Move Forward

The judgment shows that, even fifteen years on, questions of retribution and responsibility remain as tricky as ever in the aftermath of 9/11 attacks.

US Military Appeals Court Allows 9/11 Plea Deals to Move Forward
US Military Appeals Court Allows 9/11 Plea Deals to Move Forward. Credit | REUTERS


United States: A three-judge Military Commission review says guilty pleas in relation to the man accused of plotting 9/2001, terrorist attacks in the United States and two associates can go forward after Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin sought to get them thrown out.

Pentagon Chief’s Attempt to Overturn Pleas Rejected

Austin reversed those plea offers in August after the Pentagon had made the plea bargains with the three, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, as reported by Reuters.

A U.S. military judge decided in the hope of November that Austin was late in the revocation of the plea deals, hence deeming them viable. The late Monday order by the U.S. military appeals court supports that ruling.

Implications for Guantanamo’s Most Notorious Prisoner

The Pentagon did not respond to inquiries. It has previously stated how Austin was taken aback by these plea bargains and that the secretary was not involved since that has lots of autonomy.

According to the agreements, the three might be found guilty of the attacks and instead be spared the death sentence.

Mohammed is accused of being the.mastermind behind a plot to crash hijacked commercial passenger aircraft into the World Trade Centre in New York City and into the Pentagong. Known as the 9/11 attacks, the events led to the death of roughly 3,000 people and launched the U.S. into a twofold war in Afghanistan lasting twenty years.

Renewed Focus

Specialists in human rights law, as well as that of the United Nations, have criticised torture at Guantanamo and elsewhere during the so-called ‘war on terror’ and called for an apology from Washington. Another former President of the United States, Barack Obama declared this tablename in 2014 stating it as ‘Not in line with our standards.’

On the same day, the Pentagon disclosed that one of the oldest detainees in the Guantanamo Bay has been transferred from the site and repatriated in his country that is Tunisia. He was detained without trial for more than two decades, as reported by Reuters.

The Pentagon said that 26 detainees are kept in the building, most of them can be transferred to other detention centers.

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