Several unresolved legal issues, including secret information, human rights violations and torture, could still prevent the trial from beginning on the scheduled date, according to a US agency report.
WASHINGTON, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 11th Sep, 2026) The trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, described as the mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, has still not begun despite more than 20 years having passed.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is accused of masterminding the attacks. He was arrested more than 20 years ago, but legal obstacles have prevented the case from moving forward.
In the latest development, a Guantanamo military judge has set 5th June, 2028, for the start of proceedings against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other defendants.
However, according to The Associated Press, several legal issues remain unresolved and could prevent the hearing from starting on that date.
One of the case’s major difficulties stems from the period Khalid Sheikh Mohammed spent in the custody of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
He was arrested in Pakistan in 2003 and held at secret locations, where he underwent harsh interrogations, including simulated drowning. The defence argued that confessions obtained during this period were the result of coercion and torture.
This triggered a lengthy legal battle over the admissibility of the statements, according to Amnesty International.
Alongside the conditions of detention, the confessions being used by the prosecution also became the focus of legal arguments.
A military judge excluded a major confession Khalid gave in 2007 because it had been obtained under severe coercion and he did not have access to a lawyer at the time. According to the New York Post, prosecutors decided to proceed without that confession to avoid further delays.
They have other evidence, including communications records and financial information.
The case is also complicated because some of the evidence relates to the CIA’s secret detention programme, while the court is dealing with classified information.
This has led to continuing debate over the limits of disclosing information to lawyers, presenting it in court and protecting national-security secrets. According to Human Rights First, pretrial hearings consequently turned into separate legal battles over classified evidence and its use.
Another cause of delay is the judicial system.
The case is being heard before a military commission at the Guantanamo military base rather than in a conventional US Federal court, making it an unusual system. According to The Associated Press, judges, prosecutors and defence teams changed during the proceedings, while COVID-19 and the demands of working at Guantanamo also caused disruptions.
In 2024, prosecutors reached plea agreements with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other defendants.
Under the agreements, if the defendants pleaded guilty, they would receive life imprisonment instead of facing the death penalty in a full trial. However, then-US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin intervened and withdrew his approval.
A legal dispute subsequently began over whether he had the authority to cancel the agreements after they had been concluded.
According to Reuters, in July 2025, a federal appeals court upheld the government’s position regarding Austin’s authority to cancel the agreements, after which the case returned to the path toward trial.
The delay is therefore not the result of a single obstacle, but a combination of issues accumulated over many years, including torture-related confessions, the exclusion of key evidence, sensitive information linked to the CIA’s secret programme, the complexities of a military court and the dispute over the plea agreements.
Following the new date in June 2028, the path to trial appears clear on paper, but given the case’s long history, beginning the proceedings on schedule remains a legal challenge.
