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

A US military judge has decided that confessions made by alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to FBI agents are not allowed in court and cannot be used against him during his trial, according to The New York Times. The decision comes as the trial date for Mohammed and three other accused plotters is set for June 5, 2028 at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Mohammed, also known as “KSM,” was a top lieutenant to Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden before his capture in Pakistan in 2003. While prosecutors had previously excluded statements made by Mohammed while held by the CIA and subjected to harsh treatment, such as waterboarding before his transfer to Guantanamo in 2006, Lieutenant Colonel Michael Schrama has ruled that Mohammed's subsequent interrogations in 2007 at Guantanamo are also inadmissible.

Schrama stated that the prosecution could not prove by a preponderance of the evidence that Mohammed's statements to the FBI were voluntarily given. The judge cited a "continuous chain of CIA psychological conditioning and severe coercion" and found that FBI agents intentionally failed to inform Mohammed of his right to remain silent and to have a lawyer present.

Prosecutors have the option to appeal this ruling. Mohammed's trial has faced multiple delays, with a plea deal that would have removed the death penalty from the table being withdrawn last year after protests from the relatives of some 9/11 victims.