Trial of alleged 9/11 mastermind set for June 2028 after plea deal collapse

A US military judge has ordered Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and three co-defendants to go on trial in June 2028 over the 11 September 2001 attacks. The scheduling order, issued by Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Michael Schrama, sets 5 June 2028 as the start date for the long-running military commission case at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. It is the latest step in a prosecution that has been delayed for years by disputes over plea agreements, evidence and military court procedure.

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The order covers Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak bin 'Atash, Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi and Ali Abdul Aziz Ali. According to the ruling, the proceedings will begin with selection of a panel of service members to act as the jury, followed by opening statements 30 calendar days later. The judge rejected a prosecution request to begin in January 2027, saying that would leave too little time to resolve pre-trial evidentiary and compliance motions.

Last month, a US appeals court blocked plea agreements that would have allowed Mohammed and two co-defendants to avoid the death penalty. The case remains one of the most significant terrorism prosecutions in US history. Mohammed, who is 61, is accused of orchestrating the plot to fly hijacked passenger planes into the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Virginia and a field in Pennsylvania.

The attacks killed about 3,000 people and led to the creation of the Guantanamo detention facility in 2002. The military prison has since become the centre of a legal process marked by repeated delays and challenges over how the case should be handled. The latest timetable also reflects the collapse of a plea path that had been accepted by the official overseeing the Pentagon's Guantanamo war court before being revoked by then-Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin last August.

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That decision followed criticism from Republican politicians, and the appellate ruling last month reversed earlier decisions by a military judge and the US Court of Military Commission Review. The new schedule therefore restores a trial route, but only after another lengthy period of preparation and legal argument. The broader significance of the order is that it keeps the case moving, even though it will now stretch well beyond the 25th anniversary of the attacks.

It also highlights the continuing difficulty of using the military commission system for a case involving multiple defendants, disputed evidence and the possibility of capital punishment. For the families of victims and for the US government, the timetable offers clarity on the next formal step, but not a final resolution. What remains unclear is whether further appeals or motions will alter the 2028 date before trial begins.

The order leaves both sides time to argue over evidence and compliance issues, and the defence will still be able to challenge the prosecution case once it opens. The next key point to watch is whether the schedule holds and whether any new legal challenge again delays proceedings at Guantanamo Bay.

A military judge has set 5 June 2028 as the start date for the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and three co-accused in the long-running 9/11 case. The ruling means the proceedings will begin more than a quarter of a century after the attacks in the United States. Prosecutors had sought a 2027 start date, but the judge said that was too soon.

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The case concerns Mohammed, Walid bin Attash, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Mustafa al-Hawsawi. The court document said the extra time was needed to deal with matters including disputes over what evidence can be presented. Mohammed has been held at Guantanamo Bay since September 2006 after his arrest in 2003, and the military prison there opened six months after the attacks.

The case has been delayed for years and has already seen a plea agreement collapse. Mohammed had reached a deal under which he would admit guilt in exchange for avoiding a death-penalty trial, but a federal appeals court threw out the agreement last summer. The rejected deal would have given him a life sentence without the possibility of parole and was signed by an official appointed by then-Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin.

The trial is tied to one of the most consequential terrorism prosecutions in US history. The attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Virginia and a field in Pennsylvania killed about 3,000 people. Mohammed is accused of conceiving the idea of training pilots to fly commercial planes into buildings and taking that plan to Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda.

The new date also underlines the continuing difficulty of bringing the case to trial at Guantanamo Bay. The military commission system has faced repeated delays, including disputes over evidence and the handling of pre-trial agreements. The timing means the case will still be unresolved when the 25th anniversary of the attacks is marked next month.

What remains unclear is whether further legal challenges will affect the 2028 timetable or whether the parties will resolve outstanding evidentiary issues before then. The judge's order gives the defence and prosecution more time to prepare, but it does not end the wider procedural disputes surrounding the case. The next key development will be whether the schedule holds and whether any further appeals or motions alter the start date.

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