US military court schedules trial for 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

A US military judge has scheduled the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, to begin on June 5, 2028. Mohammed, a former senior al-Qaeda operative, was captured in Pakistan in March 2003 and has been held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp since September 2006. Prior to his transfer to Guantanamo, he was detained in CIA secret prisons in Poland, where he was subjected to interrogation and torture.

The upcoming trial follows the July 2025 decision by a US appeals court to invalidate a plea deal that would have allowed Mohammed and two co-defendants to avoid the death penalty in exchange for guilty pleas. The legal process remains complex, and the scheduled June 2028 start date is considered subject to change. Major procedural issues, particularly regarding the admissibility of specific evidence, remain unresolved, potentially leading to further delays in the proceedings.