9/11 terrorists' plea deals revived: Victims' families urge US president-elect Trump to ensure death penalty

A US military judge has ruled that the plea deals negotiated for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind behind the September 11, 2001 attacks, and two co-defendants must remain in effect, a decision that has sparked immediate backlash from victims' families.

Sunita Iyer

First Published Nov 7, 2024, 11:30 AM IST | Last Updated Nov 7, 2024, 11:30 AM IST

The ruling, reportedly issued on Wednesday by Air Force Col. Matthew McCall at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, comes three months after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin revoked the plea agreements in a controversial move.

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The plea deals, struck earlier this year, had offered Mohammed, Walid bin Attash, and Mustafa al-Hawsawi the chance to avoid the death penalty in exchange for guilty pleas. The ruling effectively paves the way for the defendants to plead guilty, drawing closer to the conclusion of a long-running, fraught prosecution.

Families of victims outraged after plea deals revived for 9/11 terrorists

The ruling has been met with anger from the families of those killed in the 9/11 attacks, who see the deals as an injustice. They argue that the defendants should face the death penalty for their role in the worst terrorist attack on American soil.

Jimmy Smith, a retired police officer whose wife Moira died in the attacks, expressed his outrage. "I am livid that this judge overturned the decision and is allowing these defendants to take a plea deal. They committed the highest crime in this country and they should receive the worst punishment which in this case is the death penalty," Smith was quoted as saying in a New York Post report.

"Also I don’t believe in coincidences, they waited to release this decision until after the election. They overturned it before to help the Democrats in the election," he further alleged.

Dan D'Allara, whose twin brother John was killed in the attacks, called for President-elect Donald Trump to use executive powers to ensure the terrorists receive the death penalty. “The first Executive Order President Trump should sign is an Executive Order of Execution for the 5 admitted 9/11 plotters”, D’Allara told the New York Post.

”They are cowards and they killed a lot of innocent people that day and are continuing to kill people going forward," he added.

Kathy Vigiano, a retired police officer and widow of Detective Joseph Vigiano, who died on 9/11, expressed her disbelief that the terrorists would avoid death. “It’s unbelievable to me that these terrorist won’t get death,” Vigiano told The New York Post. “I can only hope that they get life without the possibility of parole.”

New York City Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry criticized the ruling as "shameful" and called for immediate action to correct what he saw as a grave injustice.

"This is yet another shameful twist in a case that has seen far too many. The cycle of re-victimizing hero 9/11 families needs to end. Our government needs to find a way to fix this immediately. Justice cannot wait any longer," he was quoted as saying in the New York Post report.

The plea deals, which were initially struck by the Office of Military Commissions in July, were aimed at sparing the three accused terrorists the death penalty in exchange for their guilty pleas, potentially bringing an end to a case that has been delayed by years of legal battles and pretrial hearings. The men have been held at Guantanamo Bay since 2003.

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The decision to reverse the plea deals by Austin, who argued that such significant decisions should be made by the Defense Secretary, was met with resistance from the accused's lawyers, who decried it as a politically motivated action.

“We have had an unprecedented act by a government official to pull back what was a valid agreement,” Walter Ruiz, a lawyer for al Hawsawi, said as per a CNN report.

“For us, it raises very serious questions about continuing to engage in a system that seems so obviously corrupt and rigged,” he added.

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