A federal appeals court is on the brink of ruling on the Pentagon's ability to retract plea agreements that bar the death penalty for three Guantanamo Bay detainees linked to the 9/11 attacks.
In a recent order, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals granted a stay requested by the government to halt a military judge from accepting guilty pleas from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid bin Attash, and Mustafa al-Hawsawi.
The Court's Leanings
While not a final verdict, the order suggests the government's stance could prevail once the formal opinion is rendered.
Two of the three judges on the panel favored the stay: Judge Patricia Millett, appointed by President Obama, and Judge Neomi Rao, appointed by President Trump. Judge Robert Wilkins, another Obama appointee, signaled a different view.
Although the judges didn't elaborate on their decisions, the move follows plea agreements reached in July between the alleged plotters and a Pentagon official overseeing the tribunal process at Guantanamo.
The agreements aimed to avoid a full trial, excluding the death penalty as a possible sentence. Instead, the defendants would face life imprisonment, a resolution met with mixed reactions from victims' families.
While some families criticized the deal for precluding full trials and potential death penalties, others supported it. Republicans blamed the Biden administration for the agreement, despite the White House's claim of no prior knowledge.
Soon after the agreements were finalized, then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin moved to invalidate them, citing inadequate consultation. The defendants' lawyers contested this, leading to a military judge upholding the agreements' validity.
Subsequently, the Biden administration and later the Trump administration sought to prevent the military commission from accepting the agreements officially.
Legal Battle Ahead
Attorneys for the defendants may petition the full D.C. Circuit bench or the Supreme Court for intervention. The detainees, including Mohammed, have been in U.S. custody since 2003 and at Guantanamo since 2006, under the assertion of wartime detention authority.
As the legal saga continues, the implications of the court's pending decision loom large over the 9/11 detainees and the broader debate on counterterrorism measures.
0 Comments