WP said the court refused to commute the sentences of the organizers of the 9/11 attacks

The U.S. Court of Military Appeals has denied Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin's challenge to the replacement of the death penalty with life imprisonment for the organizers of the September 11 terrorist attacks. This was reported on December 31 by The Washington Post newspaper with reference to a source.

According to the publication, the defendants have already pleaded guilty, in connection with which they can not be tried.

"A senior Defense Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said that the Defense Department, together with the Justice Department, is studying the decision and considering options," the publication said.

Earlier in the day, the New York Post reported that those accused of involvement in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in the U.S. can still avoid the death penalty because of the new court decision. According to the publication, plea bargains for the three terrorists are back on the table. Thus, it notes, it gives the defendants - terrorist mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad and his accomplices Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hausawi - the opportunity to plead guilty at a hearing next week in exchange for life in prison. In this case, Austin will be able to challenge the court's decision.

Before that, on July 31, it became known that the Commissioner for convening military commissions Susan Escalier concluded pre-trial deals with three defendants in the case of the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 in New York. They agreed to plead guilty. Days later, Austin reversed the decision and retained jurisdiction over the case.

On September 11, 2001, 19 terrorists took four passenger planes hostage. Two of them were directed by the militants at the World Trade Center towers in New York, the third at the Pentagon building in Washington, DC. The fourth plane was also flying towards the American capital, but crashed near the city of Shanksville, Pennsylvania. As a result of the attacks, in addition to members of the terrorist group killed almost 3 thousand people.