Trial remains elusive for purported mastermind accused of plotting 9/11 attacks, tell me about this news in (https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/09/11/trial-purported-mastermind-9-11-attacks/)

The news report details why, more than two decades after Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was transferred to the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the accused mastermind of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks remains without a completed trial.Key Details of the Report

• Trial Date Set for 2028: A military judge recently scheduled a trial date of June 5, 2028, for Mohammed and three co-defendants before a military commission at Guantanamo Bay. However, legal experts and observers widely doubt the trial will ever reach a conclusion due to persistent procedural and legal gridlock.
• The Impact of Torture and Tainted Evidence: Following his capture in Pakistan in 2003, Mohammed spent more than three years in clandestine CIA detention facilities (“black sites”), where he was subjected to harsh interrogation methods, including 183 instances of waterboarding. In late August, the presiding military judge ruled that prosecutors cannot use statements Mohammed gave to the FBI in 2007, finding they were tainted by earlier torture. The federal government chose not to appeal the ruling to prevent further timeline setbacks.
• Failure of Plea Bargains: A negotiated plea agreement reached in 2024which would have sentenced Mohammed and co-defendants to life imprisonment while removing the death penaltysparked fierce political backlash and ultimately collapsed completely.
• The Abandoned Civilian Path: The article revisits how an earlier plan in 2009 to prosecute Mohammed in civilian federal court in Manhattan near the World Trade Center site was abandoned following security fears and political resistance. Critics and former prosecutors note that shifting entirely to the military commission system created decades of procedural challenges and endless litigation.
• Impact on Victims’ Families: Twenty-five years after the 2001 attacks, surviving family members continue to express frustration over the ongoing absence of legal closure and accountability. While many still demand a trial and the death penalty, the protracted delays have left the case mired in legal uncertainty.