A US military judge has set June 5, 2028, as the new trial date for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and three other men accused of involvement in the September 11, 2001 attacks, extending a legal process that has remained unresolved for more than two decades.
The trial date is around 18 months later than the January 2027 schedule sought by prosecutors. The military judge said additional time was needed to resolve several pretrial disputes, including disagreements over what evidence can be presented during the proceedings.
The case could face further delays if the required legal deadlines and pretrial milestones are not completed.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is accused of developing and directing the plot behind the 9/11 attacks, in which hijacked aircraft were crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, while another plane went down in Pennsylvania.
He will face trial alongside three alleged accomplices — Walid bin Attash, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Mustafa al-Hawsawi.
The four men remain among the detainees held at the US military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The case has faced repeated delays over the years. A previous trial date had been scheduled for 2021 but was later cancelled as legal disputes surrounding evidence, interrogation methods and the military commission process continued.
The proceedings also faced another major development after a plea agreement that could have allowed Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two co-defendants to receive life sentences without parole was overturned.
The agreement would have spared the accused from the possibility of the death penalty and required them to provide answers to unresolved questions surrounding the attacks. However, the deal was later rejected following legal challenges.
The newly scheduled June 2028 trial date represents another major delay in one of the longest-running terrorism-related cases in US legal history. With several key pretrial disputes still unresolved, the proceedings could continue to face further challenges before the trial begins.
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