In the upcoming terror trial surrounding the attacks of September 11, 2001, one of the five defendants has been declared unfit to stand trial. The reason was mistreatment in prison. Almost 3,000 people were killed in the Islamist attacks.
A military judge at the US base at Guantanamo has declared one of the defendants in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks unfit to stand trial. A panel of military doctors had previously found that years of abuse in CIA custody had caused Ramzi Bin Al-Shibh to develop psychosis.
The responsible military judge, Matthew McCall, said that the 51-year-old was unable to participate in his own defense. Al-Shibh remains in custody. The prosecution of his four co-defendants will continue without him, Judge McCall’s decision said.
In the indictment: thousand-fold murder
Five men are accused in the trial, including the suspected mastermind of the attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. They are accused of, among other things, terrorism and murder in 2,976 cases and face the death penalty. The start of the trial has not yet been set.
Bin Al-Shib lived in the so-called Hamburg terror cell with Mohammed Atta, the leader of the September 11th death pilots. The 51-year-old Al-Shib is accused of organizing a cell of the 19 men who hijacked four planes in the attacks. The medical board in August diagnosed Al-Shibh with post-traumatic stress disorder with secondary psychosis, linking it to torture and solitary confinement during his four years in CIA custody after his 2002 arrest.
On September 11, 2001, members of the Islamist terrorist network Al-Qaeda piloted three hijacked planes into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington. A fourth hijacked plane crashed in Pennsylvania. A total of almost 3,000 people were killed in the terrorist attacks.