10
Loading video...
By Khaleda Rahman
National Correspondent
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
The news that the man accused of plotting the September 11, 2001, attacks and two alleged accomplices have reached plea deals that will reportedly spare their lives has sparked fury.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind, and two accomplices, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, have agreed to plead guilty to charges related to the attacks, the Pentagon announced on Wednesday.
The Pentagon said the "specific terms and conditions of the pretrial agreements are not available to the public at this time."
Read More on U.S.
But the men, who have been in U.S. custody since 2003, agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy and murder charges in exchange for life sentences instead of a death penalty trial at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, The New York Times reported, citing a letter that was sent from war court prosecutors to the families of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the attacks.
The men could enter their pleas as soon as next week, the letter said.
"We are deeply troubled by these plea deals. While we acknowledge the decision to avoid the death penalty, our primary concern remains access to these individuals for information," Brett Eagleson, the president of 9/11 Justice, a group comprising survivors, first responders and family members of victims, said in a statement provided to Newsweek.
"These plea deals should not perpetuate a system of closed-door agreements, where crucial information is hidden without giving the families of the victims the chance to learn the full truth."
Terry Strada, the national chair of a group of families of victims called 9/11 Families United, told The Associated Press that she was "disappointed" by the plea deals.
...
"For me personally, I wanted to see a trial," she said. "And they just took away the justice I was expecting, a trial and the punishment."
Michael Burke, one of the family members who received the government notice about the plea bargain, told the AP that it has "always been disgraceful that these guys, 23 years later, have not been convicted and punished for their attacks, or the crime."
Burke, whose fire captain brother Billy died in the collapse of the World Trade Center's North Tower, added: "I think people would be shocked if you could go back in time and tell the people who just watched the towers go down, 'Oh, hey, in 23 years, these guys who are responsible for this crime we just witnessed are going to be getting plea deals so they can avoid death and serve life in prison."
Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called the plea deals "a revolting abdication of the government's responsibility to defend America and provide justice."
In a statement, McConnell said: "The only thing worse than negotiating with terrorists is negotiating with them after they are in custody. The families of their victims and the American people deserve real justice."
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson also condemned the plea deals, calling them a "slap in the face" for the families of victims.
"For more than two decades, the families of those murdered by these terrorists have waited for justice," he said. "This plea deal is a slap in the face of those families. They deserved better from the Biden-Harris Administration."
The White House was informed of the plea agreement on Wednesday and President Joe Biden played "no role in this process," a National Security Council spokesperson told Newsweek.
"The White House learned yesterday that the Convening Authority for Military Commissions entered into pretrial agreements, negotiated by military prosecutors," the spokesperson said.
"The President and the White House played no role in this process. The President has directed his team to consult as appropriate with officials and lawyers at the Department of Defense on this matter."
Several lawmakers from New York also criticized the plea deals.
New York Representative Nicole Malliotakis, a Republican, said that "any plea deal with the terrorists responsible for killing thousands of Americans including so many of my constituents is unacceptable.
"We owe it to the victims, their families and those 9/11 heroes who continue dying today from related illnesses to pursue the death penalty."
Mike Lawler, another Republican Representative from New York, called the plea deals "outrageous and unacceptable."
"This is a slap in the face to every family that lost a loved one on 9/11 and since, and to every survivor who continues to struggle with health effects from that terrible day, especially the brave first responders who rushed into burning buildings and toiled on the pile," he said.
"These terrorist scumbags must face the total weight of justice."
Another New York Republican, Representative Anthony D'Esposito, told The New York Post that "the terrorists responsible for the thousands of Americans murdered on September 11th should not be afforded an opportunity to live out the rest of their days at the expense of American taxpayers while the families of their victims are left to pick up the pieces."
He added that "the world would be a better place if these monsters were no longer allowed to breathe our air."
The plea agreements were welcomed by Daphne Eviatar, the director of the Security with Human Rights program at Amnesty International USA, who said they would bring "some accountability for the 9/11 attacks, and justice for the victims and survivors of those horrific crimes."
In an emailed statement to Newsweek, Eviatar said: "We are also pleased that there is finally an outcome for at least some of the accused, who were tortured and then languished in detention without trial for more than two decades."
She urged the Biden administration to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center, which holds people taken into custody in what President George W. Bush's administration called its war on terror.
"We urge the Biden administration to release the remaining detainees who have not been charged with crimes, and close the facility once and for all," she said.
"[And] take all necessary measures to ensure that a program of state-sanctioned enforced disappearance, torture and other ill-treatment will never be perpetrated by the United States again."
Update 8/1/24, 8:20 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with a comment from a National Security Council spokesperson.
Update 8/1/24, 10:20 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with a statement from 9/11 Justice.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines