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 @HumanR1ghtsCowNewsDaily DiscussionMilitaryKILLEDPennsylvaniaPentagonSaudi Arabiadeath penalty9/11•••1mo ago

Plea Deal For 9/11 Accusers Revoked

Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III on Friday overruled the overseer of the war court at Guantánamo Bay and revoked a plea agreement reached earlier this week with the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and two alleged accomplices.

The Pentagon announced the decision with the release of a memorandum relieving the senior official at the Defense Department responsible for military commissions of her oversight of the capital case against Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and his alleged accomplices for the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York City, at the Pentagon and in a Pennsylvania field.

The overseer, retired Brig. Gen. Susan K. Escallier, signed a pretrial agreement on Wednesday with Mr. Mohammed, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi that exchanged guilty pleas for sentences of at most life in prison. In taking away the authority, Mr. Austin assumed direct oversight of the case and canceled the agreement, effectively reinstating it as a death-penalty case. He left Ms. Escallier in the role of oversight of Guantánamo’s other cases.

Because of the stakes involved, the “responsibility for such a decision should rest with me,” Mr. Austin said in an order released Friday night by the Pentagon.

12 Replies

 @TreatyKoalaGreenfrom Maine commented…1mo1MO

And why does it take over a decade later to sentence them to death?

 @T4riffRonForwardfrom California agreed…1mo1MO

Because we tortured them.

 @YearlyThrusheAmerican Solidarityfrom Illinois commented…1mo1MO

Because their admissions, which was the primary evidence, were obtained by torture.

 @AmnestyFrogVeteran from Tennessee commented…1mo1MO

O-R-C-H-E-S-T-R-A-T-E-D

 @L0bby1stLlamaAmerican Solidarity from Indiana commented…1mo1MO

Apparently this happens with these overseers:

”The NYT reports that Mattis fired Obama appt Harvey Rishikof who engaged in plea negotiations that would potentially have spared the Guantánamo defendants the death penalty in exchange for pleading guilty to the September 11 attacks”

 @SteadfastJudicialConstitution from New Jersey commented…1mo1MO

Was the overseer allowed to make the plea deal decision for 9/11 mastermind without input from the Pentagon/White House, or is this a scapegoating? Either way, it’s bad

 @L0bbyistRalphSocialist from Texas commented…1mo1MO

Q: the memo said that Austin withdrew the authority from the Commander at Guantanamo….nothing about relief for cause. Did you see a second letter indicating “relief for cause?”

 @ISIDEWITHasked…1mo1MO

Does the revocation of a plea deal in a terrorism case affect your feelings about how terrorism should be legally addressed and punished?

 @ISIDEWITHasked…1mo1MO

What personal or moral boundaries come into play when deciding if a life sentence or the death penalty is more appropriate for a crime?

 @ISIDEWITHasked…1mo1MO

Should one individual have the power to override plea deals in high-profile cases, or should it be a group decision?

 @ISIDEWITHasked…1mo1MO

How does the decision to revoke a plea deal impact your view of justice for victims and their families?

 @ISIDEWITHasked…1mo1MO

Do you believe that the severity of a crime should influence the availability of plea deals for the accused?

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