Military Judge Sets June 2028 Date for Guantanamo 9/11 Tribunal
A US military judge at Guantanamo Bay has scheduled a June 5, 2028 trial date for accused September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and three co-defendants. Victims’ families and legal defense teams now face a renewed proceedings timeline complicated by a recent court ruling that threw out key FBI confession evidence obtained following years of CIA interrogation and torture overseas.
Confessions Suppressed Following Extended Interrogation in CIA Custody
The military magistrate ruled in late August that federal prosecutors cannot present a 2007 FBI statement made by Mohammed, declaring the admission tainted by past interrogation techniques. A US Senate report previously detailed that Mohammed was subjected to 183 sessions of waterboarding while held in secret CIA facilities. Government prosecutors opted against appealing the evidence suppression to avoid further delaying the military commission proceedings.
Mohammed was captured in Pakistan in 2003 and transferred to the military detention facility in Cuba on September 5, 2006, after spending more than three years in covert prisons abroad. A proposed plea agreement announced in 2024, which would have removed the death penalty in exchange for life imprisonment, unraveled shortly after its public release and collapsed entirely last year.
For surviving relatives of victims, the trial schedule reignites decades-long debate over judicial finality and capital punishment. Terry Strada, national chair of 9/11 Families United, whose husband Tom died at the World Trade Center, stated that surviving family members continue to seek formal resolution while remaining opposed to any deal that waives execution. Defense attorney Joshua Dratel maintained that the military tribunal framework remains fundamentally compromised by political interference and the legacy of institutional torture.
A prior effort in 2009 by then-Attorney General Eric Holder to try Mohammed and four co-defendants in a Manhattan civilian court near the World Trade Center site was abandoned after former President Barack Obama’s administration faced intense opposition from local leaders, including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who cited severe security risks.
