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Sept. 11 Case Awaits Biden Administration’s Reply on Plea Deal


GUANTánAMO BAY, Cuba – A military judge has canceled pre-trial hearings in the September 11 case at Guantánamo Bay while prosecutors await a response from the Biden administration on a plea agreement. The proposal would prevent a death penalty trial for the five defendants.

The judge, Colonel Matthew N. McCall, adjourned further hearings until at least January 16 while “policy makers” decide whether to agree to the conditions from the defendants. regarding their detention after sentencing or not.

His order, dated October 13, quoted prosecutors as saying they do not expect a response until perhaps next year. Colonel McCall has ordered prosecutors to update him on the matter every two weeks, beginning December 16.

The judge did not describe the issues being discussed. But people familiar with the negotiations have said that the defense is seeking a commitment from the government that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who is accused of masterminding the attacks, and the others will not be held in solitary confinement. The men, who were held in secret for three and four years in the CIA’s “black site” prisons, also asked the government to set up a civilian torture treatment program for them.

The hearings have been delayed since March, when prosecutors invited defense attorneys to negotiate a plea settlement for the defendants, those accused of helping to plot the 2001 hijacking that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, in Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon.

Test has been postponed by the challenges of higher courts and logistics, as well as by defense attorneys’ efforts to declassify information about the CIA’s torture of defendants.

Prosecutors, defense attorneys and a White House spokesman declined to discuss which members of the Biden administration’s national security team were looking into the issues. Prosecutors said in court filings that they sent a document describing the problems in March to Caroline KrassPentagon general counsel who was previously a top lawyer for the CIA

It is also unclear whether the decision to make some guarantees will be made at the interagency or cabinet level, or solely by President Biden. Administration officials also did not respond to questions about whether the issues were presented to Mr. Biden or his national security adviser, Jake Sullivan.

The defendants were sentenced 10 years ago, but there is no trial date. One an earlier attempt by a senior Pentagon official to reach a plea agreement without the involvement of the prosecution was sunk in the Trump administration.

But this time prosecutors have begun negotiations to give them a more central role in any plea agreement and sentencing hearing, according to people with knowledge of the negotiations. sued anonymously because they were not authorized to discuss sensitive negotiations.

Prosecutors in the September 11 case were warned of moves at last year’s sentencing trial by another former CIA prisoner, Majid Khana Baltimore suburban high school graduate courier for Al Qaeda.

Mr. Khan expressed his regret for joining the movement and also describe his torture being held by the CIA. A jury of US military officers ordered him to serve 26 years but wrote letter urging clemency.

If September 11 prosecutors reach a deal, they plan to fight stories about waterskiing and other abuses and cruel treatment by the CIA.

War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office, The ad behind Aaron C. Rughrecently wrote to relatives of the victims of the September 11 attacks asking if they would like to testify at sentencing, a sign that behind the scenes, prosecutors are preparing for The ability to plead guilty could prevent a lengthy trial.

“The prosecution now intends to ask the military judge to allow the testimony of at least one family member of each of the 2,976 people who were killed on September 11, 2001, as well as any other individuals. personal injury if they so wish. to testify,” the letter read.

Some relatives of the victim expressed disappointment that the case could end in a guilty plea without the possibility of a death sentence. Others have welcomed the possibility of a solution that could hold the men accountable for the crimes.

After the prisoners were sentenced, the military judge was released and the Guantánamo court had no jurisdiction over whether sentencing agreements were respected. But the Biden administration’s stance on these issues could become part of a plea, offering inmates something similar to a contract to take to federal court if home employees future prison or government in violation of the plea agreement.

The detainees at Guantánamo Bay are currently being held in communal custody, allowed to pray in groups, and sometimes eat together and talk to each other in outdoor recreation yards – unlike in the years they were imprisoned. isolated in CIA prisons and early in Guantánamo Bay. They want to make sure that won’t change if they plead guilty.

Some of the defendants also said they needed specialized treatment for traumatic brain injuries, sleep disturbances, and other injuries, described in the trials and records.

Inmates are cared for from Navy soldiers and medical personnel who have mostly treated their trauma-related problems with medication.

Scott Roehm’s Torture Victim Centerone provider, said care “requires an integrated approach to physical and mental health, delivered by specially trained, independent treatment providers , those who are alive believe.”

Roehm declined to say whether the St. Paul, Minn. He said it was important to provide survivors “an environment in which they can begin to feel safe.”

The judge in the September 11 case had originally scheduled 18 weeks of pre-trial hearings for 2022. He canceled all of them, in part because a new captor was awaiting clearance on the case. security, but he held closed-door hearings with personal defense teams on topics that other parties to the case were not authorized to hear.

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