Guantánamo trial for four accused in 9/11 plot set to begin in 2028

A military judge has set a trial date of June 5, 2028, for four men accused of involvement in the September 11 attacks, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who is alleged to have helped mastermind the plot. The order, issued Wednesday at Guantánamo Bay, comes just weeks before the 25th anniversary of the attacks that brought down the World Trade Center towers and killed nearly 3,000 people.

Years in pre-trial limbo

The men have spent years at the US naval base in Cuba while their case moved through military commission proceedings repeatedly slowed by legal conflict. Schrama is the fifth military judge to take the case since the 9/11 commission arraigned the defendants in 2012. The long delay has left one of the most closely watched terrorism cases in the world still far from a verdict.

For much of that time, the proceedings have been consumed by disputes over what evidence can be used at trial. Defense lawyers have challenged the reliability of statements made after the men were held in CIA-run prisons, where interrogation methods included torture, abuse and isolation, according to the source material. Those confessions remain a central flashpoint in the case.

Fairness questions linger

The prosecution has also leaned on national security privilege to keep some details from defense attorneys. That has fueled persistent questions over whether the accused can receive a fair trial after so many years and so many procedural reversals.