Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind behind the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, and three co-defendants have been ordered to stand trial before a military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay in June 2028.
US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Michael Schrama issued the trial schedule on Wednesday, marking another major development in a case that has been trapped in legal disputes for more than two decades.
Mohammed and his co-defendants are being held at the US detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where proceedings against them have faced years of delays over complex legal and evidentiary issues.
Under Schrama’s 11-page order, the trial is scheduled to begin on 5 June 2028. The other defendants are Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak bin ‘Atash, Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi and Ali Abdul Aziz Ali.
The proceedings will initially focus on selecting a military panel that will serve as the jury. Opening arguments are expected 30 days after the panel has been assembled, followed by the prosecution’s presentation of evidence.
The defendants will then have opportunities to seek findings of not guilty, with both sides allowed to respond to arguments before prosecutors potentially reopen their case. The defence is scheduled to begin presenting its main evidence 60 days after the prosecution concludes its case.
A sentencing phase will follow the trial.
Schrama rejected a prosecution proposal to begin the proceedings in January 2027, saying the earlier date would not provide enough time to resolve outstanding pretrial evidence and compliance issues.
The latest schedule comes after a US appeals court last month rejected an attempt by Mohammed and two of his co-defendants to plead guilty under agreements that would have removed the possibility of the death penalty.
The plea agreements were originally offered in 2024 and accepted by the official overseeing the Pentagon’s Guantanamo military commissions. However, the agreements were withdrawn in August last year by then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin following criticism from Republican lawmakers.
The appeals court decision overturned earlier rulings by a military judge and the US Court of Military Commission Review that had supported the plea arrangements.
Mohammed remains one of the most prominent detainees held at Guantanamo Bay. The facility was established in 2002 under then-President George W. Bush to detain foreign militant suspects following the 9/11 attacks.
US prosecutors accuse Mohammed of helping orchestrate the plot in which hijacked passenger aircraft were flown into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon near Washington.
The attacks on 11 September 2001 killed nearly 3,000 people and triggered sweeping changes to US security and counter-terrorism policies.
The scheduled 2028 trial represents another attempt to bring the long-running case towards a conclusion after years of legal battles, procedural disputes and uncertainty over how the defendants should be prosecuted.
