The Biden administration is asking a federal appeals court for an injunction to temporarily block a plea deal agreement with three detainees in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, including 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, which would see the defendants avoid the death penalty.
The three prisoners were set to enter their pleas as early as Friday at the military prison.
On New Year’s Eve, a military appeals court shot down Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s effort to block the deal between military prosecutors and defense lawyers, saying Austin did not have the power to cancel plea agreements.
Specifically, the court opinion said the plea deals reached by military prosecutors and defense attorneys were valid and enforceable and that Austin exceeded his authority when he later tried to nullify them.
MILITARY APPEALS COURT RULES DEFENSE SEC AUSTIN CANNOT RESCIND 9/11 PLEA DEALS
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the organizer of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks (HO/AFP via Getty Images/File)
In its appeal this week, the government says, “Respondents are charged with perpetrating the most egregious criminal act on American soil in modern history—the 9/11 terrorist attacks.”
“The military commission judge intends to enforce pretrial plea agreements that will deprive the government and the American people of a public trial as to the respondents’ guilt and the possibility of capital punishment, despite the fact that the Secretary of Defense has lawfully withdrawn those agreements,” the appeal read. “The harm to the government and the public will be irreparable once the judge accepts the pleas, which he is scheduled to do in hearings beginning on January 10, 2025.”
The appeal also noted that once the military commission accepts the guilty pleas, there is likely no way to return to the status quo.
BIDEN ADMIN SENDS 11 GUANTÁNAMO DETAINEES TO OMAN FOR RESETTLEMENT
The control tower of the Camp VI detention facility in Guantánamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. (AP Photo/Alex…
