Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, accused of masterminding the September 11, 2001 attacks, and three alleged co-defendants are scheduled to stand trial beginning on June 5, 2028, according to US media reports.
US military judge Lieutenant Colonel Michael Schrama rejected prosecutors’ request to begin the proceedings in 2027, ruling that more time was required to resolve outstanding pretrial issues.
“A realistic trial date must account for the hearing and resolution of pretrial evidentiary and compliance motions,” Fox News quoted Schrama as saying.
Under the scheduling order, jury selection will begin on June 5, 2028, with opening statements expected 30 days after members of the military commission have been selected.
The order also establishes deadlines for presenting evidence, defence motions, rebuttal proceedings and closing arguments.
Mohammed and his three alleged co-defendants have been held at Guantanamo Bay for more than two decades in connection with the 9/11 attacks.
The decision follows years of legal disputes over how the case should proceed, including efforts to resolve the proceedings through plea agreements.
In 2025, a federal appeals court ruled that then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had the authority to withdraw plea agreements under which Mohammed and two co-defendants would have pleaded guilty in exchange for life imprisonment without parole.
The appeals court said Austin had determined that the victims’ families and the American public should have the opportunity to see the cases proceed through military commission trials.
Mohammed, a US-educated engineer, is accused of devising the September 11 plot, in which hijacked passenger aircraft were flown into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, while another crashed in Pennsylvania.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attacks, which led to sweeping changes in US national security policy and the launch of the US-led war in Afghanistan.