The Crime

Five men are facing charges in the United States military tribunal at Guantánamo Bay of aiding the 19 men who hijacked passenger planes and crashed them into the World Trade Center, Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field on Sept. 11, 2001. Four are being tried jointly, and the other had his case separated because he was found mentally incompetent to face trial and had his case severed from the others.

The charges, which carry the death penalty, include conspiracy, murder in violation of the law of war and terrorism. The defendants are accused of directing or training the hijackers or helping provide them money or assistance with travel. They were captured in 2002 and 2003, held incommunicado in a secret C.I.A. prison network and transferred to Guantánamo Bay in September 2006 for trial.

The Trial

No date has been set for a trial to begin. Before the coronavirus pandemic, a judge had set Jan. 11, 2021, to begin jury selection in a military trial that was estimated to last a year. Since then, the timetable has been abandoned because of personnel changes, plea negotiations and a sanity board finding that one of the defendants is not competent to stand trial.

The prosecution and defense have been litigating what evidence the United States government must provide defense lawyers and what laws apply at the court, which was created by President George W. Bush and subsequently overhauled by President Barack Obama and Congress.