Pentagon and FBI officials reportedly informed families of the victims of 9/11 that the suspected architect behind the attacks and his associates could escape the death penalty thanks to a plea deal.
‘The Office of the Chief Prosecutor has been negotiating and is considering entering into pre-trial agreements” (PTA’s), a letter to the families read, according to The Associated Press (AP). While the letter stressed that no plea agreement had “been finalized, and may never be finalized,” there was a possibility that a PTA “in this case would remove the possibility of the death penalty.”
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other suspects behind the attacks have been in custody at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for the past twenty years. Military selection of the jury scheduled to hear the case was to begin in January 2021, but that was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Since then, the trial has continually been delayed due to personnel changes and plea negotiations as well as indecision from multiple presidential administrations including the Biden administration. (RELATED: ‘Perfect Storm Of Legal Mumbo Jumbo’: Fox Panel Blasts Biden Over Reported Plea Deal For Senior Al-Qaida Leaders)
TOPSHOT – This photo obtained 01 March, 2003, shows, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, alleged organizer of the September 11, 2001, attacks, shortly after his capture. US officials investigating the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl now believe he was personally slain by Mohammed. (AFP PHOTO/HO (Photo by HO / AFP) (Photo by -/HO/AFP via Getty Images)
The letter, dated Aug. 1, wasn’t received by some family members until this week, asking them to respond by Aug. 21 with any comments or questions about the possibility of such a plea agreement, further frustrating them, The AP reported.
“How can you have any faith in it?”Jim Riches, who lost his firefighter son Jimmy in the 9/11 attacks, asked, according to The AP. Riches attended the pre-trial hearing for the suspects at Guantanamo Bay in 2009, and now 14 years later, he holds out little hope for justice.
“No matter how many letters they send, until I see it, I won’t believe it,” Riches stated. Riches said that initially, he was open to the use of military tribunals for the suspects, but now he believes the process has failed and would rather see the matter taken up in a civilian court. At the end of the day, it’s been 22 years since the attacks and “those guys are still alive. Our children are dead,” Riches observed.
Peter Brady, whose father was killed on 9/11, echoed the frustration. He and other victims’ families have insisted that any plea deal brokered should allow their lawyers to question the suspects on the extent of Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the attacks – an allegation Saudi Arabia has continued to deny.
For Brady, the trial is about “holding people responsible,” telling The AP it needed “to go through the legal process” and not be settled in a plea deal.