Americas

Americas

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Other â€˜9/11 Mastermindsâ€™ in Court

05 May 2012 20:58 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The arraignment of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other people accused of masterminding the 9/11 attacks in the United States got complicated when they appeared before a U.S. military court at Guantanamo to be charged on Saturday, APA reports citing the BBC.

The suspects refused to answer questions. Hours into the hearing, one suspect broke the silence saying Americans could kill him during the trial.

The defendants are accused of planning and executing the attacks on September 11, 2001, when four hijacked planes struck New York, Washington and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, leaving nearly 3,000 people dead.

The Department of Defense on Friday unveiled formal charges against the five, alleging that the five are "responsible for the planning and execution of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, in New York, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pa., resulting in the killing of 2,976 people."

Mohammed and four others face the death penalty if convicted.

Mohammed was initially charged in 2008, but President Barack Obama stopped the case in an attempt to close the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, the CNN reported.

Unable to succeed, Obama tried moving the case to New York federal court in 2009, but the plan was dropped due to cost and security complaints.

Technically, the constitutional requirement for a speedy trial has been met once the five suspects are arraigned, according to the CNN.