US judge excludes key defendant's evidence from 9/11 terrorist attack case

A US judge has excluded key evidence from a defendant in the case of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the New York Times reported on Saturday.

The decision, coming just before the 25th anniversary of the attacks, could delay the trial if prosecutors decide to appeal.

It states that the court recently set the start of the trial for June 5, 2028.

It is expected that the main accused - Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, as well as three of his accomplices - Walid bin Attash, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, Mustafa Ahmed al-Hausawi, will appear before justice.

The judge now has suspicions that Mohammed testified without coercion.

"The prosecution failed to prove that Mohammed's statements to the FBI were made voluntarily," the report quoted Judge Michael Schram as saying.

We are talking about testimony that Mohammed gave in 2007. As indicated in the material, the prosecution considered these documents key to the death sentence.

Representatives of the American authorities in this regard said that they would soon study the judge’s ruling and decide whether to file an appeal.