US Court Temporarily Halts Plea Deal for 9/11 Defendants

The Biden administration seeks to block an agreement that could spare the accused 9/11 mastermind and co-defendants from the death penalty.

A Washington appeals court has issued a temporary stay on a plea deal involving Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind behind the September 11 attacks, and two co-defendants.
The plea deal would reportedly allow the defendants to avoid the death penalty in exchange for guilty pleas, though specific terms remain undisclosed.
The Biden administration argued the agreement could cause irreparable harm to the government and public, prompting the court's intervention.
Defense lawyers criticized the government's actions as part of a decades-long mishandling of the Guantánamo detainees' cases.
The decision comes as the outgoing administration has transferred 11 Guantánamo detainees to Oman, renewing calls from human rights groups to close the detention facility.