On June 6, 2008, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed first entered an American courtroom, charged with planning and executing the attack on the World Trade Center using commercial airplanes. He was not alone, as he was accompanied by Walid bin Attash, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, all having been detained by the United States in 2002 and 2003 and placed in secret prisons before being transferred to Guantanamo in 2006 to begin their trial two years later. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was the most composed among them in the courtroom, wearing a white robe and a turban, and the world noted the change in the man compared to the images released by the U.S. following his arrest in March 2003.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed demonstrated his defiance by rejecting legal representation and reciting verses from the Quran, asserting that he would represent himself. He proclaimed: "I understand the red lines that have been imposed on me, which is that I will not mention any country or anything about torture; they told me not to mention countries or torture." He further stated that his religious beliefs did not allow him to accept anything other than Sharia, asserting, "I will not accept representation by anyone, even if they are Muslim... God will judge."
When the judge asked Khalid Sheikh if he understood he could face the death penalty, he replied: "That is what I hope for and have wanted for a long time when I fought the Russians in Afghanistan... God will grant me that." The man wished for a death sentence from the authorities of the nation that suffered the most significant blow since the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. While Japan employed its air force, he was the mastermind behind a complex operation that involved hijacking planes and directing them toward predetermined targets alongside Mohammed Atta.
However, the man who wished for death by a U.S. judge's ruling has now, in 2024, reached an agreement with the United States to plead guilty for the September 11 attacks, not alone but alongside Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi. The agreement was reached after 27 months of negotiations between U.S. prosecutors and the defendants, which would spare the three from the death penalty, resulting in a life sentence instead.
According to American media and analysts, the agreement would not have satisfied the U.S. prosecution without the issue of torture faced by Mohammed and others in secret CIA prisons. Peter Bergen, a prominent name in U.S. journalism on al-Qaeda and author of significant works such as "The Holy War: Inside the Secret World of Osama bin Laden," viewed the agreement as the least bad option. He posited that the government faced a difficult challenge in moving forward in a case that had stalled for two decades since Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's arrest in Pakistan in 2003 for his alleged involvement in the terrorist attacks.
How did the victims' families receive the agreement? Brett Eagleston, president of the 9/11 Justice organization, which represents survivors of the September 11 attacks and families of victims, stated that the families were extremely upset by these plea deals. Terry Strada, chairwoman of the September 11 Families Association, expressed that the news was a significant shock to her when she left the federal courthouse in Manhattan after a day-long hearing.
The deal rejected by Biden: In 1996, Khalid Sheikh proposed to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden a plan to hijack commercial planes and direct them to sensitive sites across the United States for what later became known as the September 11 attack, targeting the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon. Following the operation, the U.S. pursued Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and arrested him in Pakistan in 2003, where he was subjected to torture in secret CIA prisons.
Last year, Joe Biden rejected parts of a potential plea deal for the detainees due to demands to avoid solitary confinement for the men and to receive necessary medical care due to the torture they endured at the hands of the CIA. It was revealed last year that Ramzi bin al-Shibh was mentally unfit to stand trial.
What is a plea agreement? It is a part of the U.S. criminal procedure where the prosecutor makes a concession to the defendant in exchange for their plea of guilty, allowing both parties to avoid a lengthy criminal trial and helping the defendants avoid the risk of conviction on a more serious charge. When the defendant enters into a plea agreement, they typically must stand before the court and acknowledge their violation of the law, with the prosecutor recommending sentencing to the judge according to the terms of the plea agreement.
