Judge to Rule This Summer on 3 Sept. 11 Defendants' Confessions
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · May 26
Judge to Rule This Summer on 3 Sept. 11 Defendants' Confessions
1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · May 26
Lt. Col. Michael Schrama said he will decide this summer whether statements by Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and two co-defendants can be used in the Sept. 11 death-penalty case.
Eight days of hearings this month centered on whether years of CIA abuse and solitary confinement left the men unable to confess voluntarily when FBI agents questioned them at Guantánamo.
Prosecutors argued the prisoners were unrepentant jihadists who freely described their roles in the 2001 attacks, while defense lawyers said the interrogations were shaped by torture's lingering effects.
The ruling could become a major turning point in pretrial proceedings now in their 15th year, with no trial date set nearly 25 years after the attacks killed almost 3,000 people.
Will one judge's ruling on old confessions finally decide the fate of the 25-year-old 9/11 case?
Did FBI agents get voluntary confessions, or were they talking to minds already broken by the CIA?
Justice Delayed: The 9/11 Trial’s Pivotal Ruling on Torture, Confessions, and the Fate of 2,976 Victims
Overview
This report examines the critical turning point in the 9/11 military commission trials, focusing on the imminent ruling by a military judge on whether confessions from key defendants can be used as evidence. The decision centers on whether these confessions were given voluntarily or were the result of coercion and torture during years of secret CIA detention. The outcome will have immediate and far-reaching effects on the prosecution’s case, the timeline of the trial, and the broader legitimacy of the U.S. justice system, as it grapples with issues of due process, human rights, and the long quest for justice by victims’ families.