US military judge throws out FBI confessions of alleged 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden’s aide

US military judge throws out FBI confessions of alleged 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden’s aide



Khalid Sheikh Mohammed as seen shortly after his capture in Pakistan in 2003 (right) and at Guantanamo Bay in 2009, where the alleged 9/11 mastermind remains detained as a US military judge has ruled on August 29, 2026 that his confessions to FBI agents inadmissible at trial. — Muslm.net handout pic via AFP


Summary

• A US military judge has ruled that confessions made by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, to FBI agents are inadmissible at trial.
• The decision, which precedes the 25th anniversary of the attacks, cites continued coercion and lack of legal rights advisement as reasons for exclusion.
• This development adds to the ongoing legal complexities surrounding Mohammed's trial, set for 2028, which has faced numerous delays due to concerns over CIA torture methods.
• The ruling highlights challenges in ensuring a fair trial for the 9/11 defendants.

First Published: Saturday, 29 Aug 2026 9:07 AM MYT
Last Modified: Saturday, 29 Aug 2026 10:13 AM MYT


WASHINGTON, Aug 29 — A US military judge ruled Friday that confessions made by alleged 9/11 attacks mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to FBI agents are inadmissible and cannot be used against him at trial, The New York Times reported.

The ruling comes just before the 25th anniversary of September 11, 2001, attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.



This week, the trial date for Mohammed and three other accused plotters was set for June 5, 2028 at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.


Mohammed, also known as “KSM,” was considered one of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden’s top lieutenants before he was captured in March 2003 in Pakistan.


Prosecutors have already excluded statements that Mohammed made after his capture when he was held by the CIA in overseas prisons and subjected to brutal treatment including waterboarding before his transfer in 2006 to Guantanamo, the Times reported.


But the trial judge Lieutenant Colonel Michael Schrama has concluded that Mohammed’s subsequent interrogations in 2007 at Guantanamo were also inadmissible.

“The prosecution has failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that Mr. Mohammad’s statements to the FBI were voluntarily given,” Schrama wrote in his ruling, which was not immediately released to the public. The Times said its unclassified contents were confirmed by several lawyers who had seen it.


A spokesman for the US military court did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.

Schrama cited an “unbroken continuation of the CIA’s psychological conditioning and severe coercion,” and also found that FBI agents intentionally failed to tell Mohammed that he had a right to be silent and to consult a lawyer.

Prosecutors can appeal the ruling.

Mohammed’s trial has been repeatedly delayed and a plea deal that would have seen the death penalty taken off the table was withdrawn last year following protests from the relatives of some victims of the 9/11 attacks.

Much of the legal jousting in the 9/11 defendants’ cases has focused on whether they could be tried fairly after having undergone torture at the hands of the CIA. — AFP

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The real culprits were from the shailok state