US plans to appeal judge’s decision allowing plea deals with alleged 9/11 plotters

US government plans to appeal military judge’s decision Plea plea agreements involving Sept. 11 plotters at Guantanamo Bay that were canceled by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are valid, a defense official said Saturday.

To appeal the decision, the prosecution is expected to ask the judge, Col. Matthew McCall, to pause court proceedings, the official said. The defendants were expected to file guilty pleas as early as next week, after McCall ruled Wednesday that Austin acted too late by canceling the plea agreements, making them “valid and enforceable.”

USA has reached a point plea agreement in July After more than two years of negotiations between the government and the alleged conspirators – Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks, and conspirators Walid Bin ‘Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi. The deals would allow the men to avoid the death penalty by pleading guilty and being sentenced to life in prison. The agreements were “the best path to finality and justice in this case,” prosecutors wrote in a letter at the time.

austin abruptly canceled plea deals Discussing responsibility for such an important decision in August “should be mine.” He also took responsibility for the authority that convened the military commissions that administered the military tribunals at Guantanamo.

The plea deals have faced bipartisan backlash from lawmakers and some groups that represent 9/11 victims and have pressured the U.S. government to impose the death penalty.

“While some may disagree, even in our own community, I don’t think the Biden admin should be working to cut these deals in the first place,” Brett Eagleson, president of 9/11 Justice, said in a statement to CNN. earlier this week. “It doesn’t do a single thing to ease our pain (or) give us closure. “No one listened to what we really wanted/needed and that is closure.”

The American Civil Liberties Union, meanwhile, praised Wednesday’s ruling and said it allowed the case to move forward.

“As a nation, we must move forward with the plea process and sentencing hearing aimed at providing answers to questions from victim family members,” ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said in a statement. he said. “They deserve transparency and certainty about the events that harmed their loved ones.”

The case has been stalled for two decades since Mohammed was captured in Pakistan in 2003 for his alleged involvement in terrorist attacks. For years, the United States tried to determine how to address the issue of torture of Muhammad and others in secret CIA prisons in the 2000s, which delayed the military trial. This issue posed a legal problem for prosecutors as to whether evidence obtained through torture was admissible in court.

The trial was planned to start on January 11, 2021, but the resignation of two judges and delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic caused the date to be postponed again. Negotiations on defense agreements began in March 2022.

CNN’s Kaanita Iyer, Oren Liebermann, Lauren del Valle and Evan Perez contributed to this report.

For more CNN news and newsletters, create an account at: CNN.com