Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind behind the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, in New York and Washington, will stand trial in June 2028, [reports](https://nos.nl/artikel/2628457-vermoedelijk-brein-achter-aanslagen-9-11-kwart-eeuw-na-arrestatie-voor-rechter) NOS. He has been held at Guantanamo since 2006 — an American military prison in Cuba that has repeatedly come under criticism from human rights advocates.  _Khalid Sheikh Mohammed._ The American prosecution sought to begin the trial as early as January 2027, but the military judge decided that more time was needed. In particular, a number of legal issues need to be resolved, and it must be determined what evidence can be used during the trial. ## A deal that could save him from the death penalty One of the key issues remains the agreement that Mohammed made with the U.S. Department of Defense. In exchange for a guilty plea, he was promised a trial in which the prosecution would not seek the death penalty. This arrangement has drawn sharp criticism from some relatives of the September 11 victims. Last summer, a federal court rejected the agreement, but the question of the legal validity of such a decision has not yet been definitively closed. The 61-year-old Mohammed was considered one of the most devoted associates of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. He received an engineering education in the U.S. American authorities accuse him of designing and overseeing the operation to carry out attacks against the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington. On September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked four passenger planes. Two of them crashed into the towers of the World Trade Center, the third into the Pentagon building. The fourth plane crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers attempted to resist the hijackers. Nearly 3,000 people died as a result of the attacks. The September 11 attacks marked a turning point for U.S. foreign policy and initiated years of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan and the Middle East. ## Among the last detainees at Guantanamo In 2028, along with Mohammed, three other defendants — Walid bin Attash, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, and Mustafa al-Hawsawi — are expected to stand trial. All four are among the last detainees remaining at Guantanamo. The prison was opened in 2002 to hold suspected terrorists. Many detainees have spent years there without trial. Human rights organizations have repeatedly reported on human rights violations and mistreatment of detainees. Thus, one of the longest and most high-profile trials related to the September 11 attacks may only begin in 2028 — more than a quarter of a century after the attacks themselves and about 25 years after the arrest of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
