Key facts
- Confessions made by alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to FBI agents are inadmissible.
- The ruling was made by US military judge Lieutenant Colonel Michael Schrama.
- The judge cited "unbroken continuation of the CIA’s psychological conditioning and severe coercion."
- FBI agents intentionally failed to inform Mohammed of his right to be silent and consult a lawyer.
- The trial date for Mohammed and three other accused plotters is set for June 5, 2028.
A US military judge has ruled 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 ruling by Lieutenant Colonel Michael Schrama comes just before the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks.
Schrama cited an "unbroken continuation of the CIA’s psychological conditioning and severe coercion" in his decision. He also found that FBI agents intentionally failed to inform Mohammed of his right to remain silent and to consult a lawyer. Prosecutors had already sought to exclude statements Mohammed made after his capture when he was held by the CIA and subjected to waterboarding before his transfer to Guantanamo in 2006.
The trial for Mohammed and three other accused plotters has been repeatedly delayed, with a new date set for June 5, 2028, at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The death penalty was withdrawn as a possibility last year following protests from some victims' relatives. Mohammed, also known as "KSM," was considered a top aide to Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden before his capture in Pakistan in March 2003.