Victims upset over DOD deal with three 9/11 defendants that allows them to avoid capital punishment

The Department of Defense (DOD) announced that it has reached an agreement with three defendants accused of organizing and participating in the 9/11 attacks, to plead guilty in exchange for avoiding the death penalty. Instead, the detainees will serve life in prison. A deal that has generated broad unease among victims and relatives.

In a release, the DOD confirmed the agreement, though it declined to make public the terms agreed with the defense of Khalid Shaikh Mohammad (considered the mastermind behind the attack), Walid Bin 'Attash and Mustafa al Hawsawi: 

"The Convening Authority for Military Commissions, Susan Escallier, has entered into pretrial agreements with Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin 'Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, three of the co-accused in the 9/11 case. The specific terms and conditions of the pretrial agreements are not available to the public at this time."

However, The New York Times had access to a letter in which prosecutors informed the victims' families of the situation that the agreement included a commutation of the death penalty to life in prison. The missive, signed by Rear Admiral Aaron C. Rugh, chief prosecutor for the military commissions, and three lawyers on his staff literally reads:

"In exchange for the removal of the death penalty as a possible punishment, these three accused have agreed to plead guilty to all of the charged offenses, including the murder of the 2,976 people listed in the charge sheet." 

Anger of 9/11 victims: "I feel like I've been kicked in the balls"

The victims have received the news with notable anger and have expressed their anger and disappointment unequivocally. This is the case, for example, of Kathleen Vigiano, whose husband, Joseph Vigiano, an NYPD detective, and brother-in-law, John, a firefighter, lost their lives in the World Trade Center, and who shared her feelings on her X account:

"I'm angry and disappointed that enemy combatants who killed thousands of Americans in our homeland are now able to exploit the US judicial system to their benefit, receiving support from American taxpayers for shelter, food, and healthcare for the rest of their lives."

Speaking to The New York Post, Jim Smith, an ex-cop and widower of Moira Smith, also an officer and who lost her life in the World Trade Center attack, was even more graphic: "I feel like I've been kicked in the balls. The prosecution and the families have waited 23 years to have our day in court and put on record what these animals did to our loved ones. They took that opportunity away from us." 

Two of the five original defendants, out of the settlement

However, the settlement does not include all of the defendants at first. Ramzi bin al-Shibh, who is accused of forming a kidnapping cell in Hamburg, Germany, will not even be tried having been declared mentally incompetent to face trial. 

The last original defendant, Ammar al-Baluchi, will face trial alone and without any plea bargain. He is charged with assisting the hijackers with finances and travel arrangements while working in the Persian Gulf.