Overview
- A U.S. military judge scheduled the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and three co‑defendants to open on June 5, 2028, at the Guantánamo Bay military commission.
- In late August the judge ruled that an alleged 2007 FBI confession is inadmissible because prior CIA 'enhanced interrogation' including waterboarding tainted the statements, and prosecutors declined to appeal to avoid further delay.
- A 2024 plea deal that would have kept Mohammed in prison for life without a death sentence collapsed last year, leaving the case to proceed through contested commission proceedings.
- Prosecutors and defense lawyers will still fight over classified material, what evidence can be used and other pretrial issues, making the 2028 date conditional and leaving open the possibility the case could be postponed or never completed.
- For victims’ families the case pits a desire for final accountability against disagreements over punishment, and the outcome will shape how the U.S. addresses evidence from CIA detention and the limits of the military commission system.