After two decades of legal deadlock, accused 9/11 mastermind gets a 2028 trial date

The accused mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks and three co-defendants will face trial before a U.S. military tribunal in June 2028, under an order issued Wednesday by an Air Force judge.

Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Michael Schrama set June 5, 2028, as the start date for the proceedings against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the three other detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

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The scheduling order marks the latest development in a prosecution that has been stalled for nearly two decades by legal disputes, pretrial litigation and uncertainty over how the cases should proceed.

Mohammed and his co-defendants are accused of helping orchestrate the plot to hijack passenger aircraft and crash them into the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon. The attacks killed nearly 3,000 people.

Appeals court blocked plea agreements

The trial date was set weeks after a U.S. appeals court rejected efforts by Mohammed and two co-defendants to plead guilty under agreements that would have spared them the death penalty.

The decision overturned rulings by a military judge and the U.S. Court of Military Commission Review that had supported the plea agreements.

The deals were offered last year and accepted by the official overseeing the Pentagon’s Guantanamo war court. However, then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin revoked them last August after Republican lawmakers criticized the agreements.

The four defendants scheduled for trial are Mohammed; Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak bin 'Atash; Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi; and Ali Abdul Aziz Ali.

Under Schrama’s 11-page order, the proceedings will begin with the selection of a panel made up entirely of service members. The panel will serve as the jury under military justice rules.

Opening statements will begin 30 calendar days after the panel is seated. Prosecutors will then present their evidence, after which the defendants may seek findings of not guilty.

Both sides will have opportunities to argue and respond to those motions, while prosecutors may also seek to reopen their case. The defense will begin presenting its principal evidence 60 calendar days after the prosecution concludes its case.

The proceedings will conclude with a sentencing phase.

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Judge rejects earlier trial proposal

Schrama rejected prosecutors’ proposal to begin the trial in January 2027, saying the timetable would provide insufficient time for the “resolution of pretrial evidentiary and compliance motions.”

Mohammed is the most prominent prisoner at the Guantanamo detention facility, which was established in 2002 by then-President George W. Bush to hold foreign militant suspects after the September 11 attacks.

The long-running case has been complicated by years of litigation over evidence, military commission procedures and the treatment of the defendants during their detention.

For now, the judge’s order sets a firm date for the next major chapter: June 5, 2028, when the prosecution against the accused 9/11 plotters is scheduled to enter the trial phase.