The Militant (logo)  

Vol. 73/No. 19      May 18, 2009

 
‘Ft. Dix 5’ sentenced in
frame-up for ‘conspiracy’
(front page)
 
BY GEORGE CHALMERS  
CAMDEN, New Jersey—A federal judge here handed down stiff sentences to five immigrants April 28 and 29 who had been convicted in a frame-up trial for “conspiring” to attack soldiers at Ft. Dix, New Jersey. The government’s case relied primarily on paid government informants who entrapped the defendants and secretly taped conversations with them.

The defendants, who lived in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, were all in their 20s when arrested in May 2007. Three brothers—Dritan, Eljvir, and Shain Duka—who ran a roofing business, were sentenced to life terms. Federal District Judge Robert Kugler added 30 years to Dritan and Shain Duka’s sentences on “gun charges.” Mohamad Shnewer, a taxi driver, was sentenced to life plus 30 years.

“This is not justice! My son was pushed and intimidated,” Faten Shnewer, Mohamad’s mother, told the Militant. “It was just talk. He never even returned Omar’s phone calls,” referring to government informer Mahmoud Omar. Ibrahim Shnewer, his father, was also outraged. “We don’t feel any justice,” he said. “They sent criminal people to innocents.”

A fifth defendant, Serdar Tatar, a manager at a convenience store, was sentenced to 33 years. The judge said Tartar was “the only one I have any hope for rehabilitation,” reported the Philadelphia Inquirer. Just prior to sentencing, Tartar told the judge, “I am not an extremist, anything close to a radical. I’m a patriot. I love my country.” He added that his goal was to become a cop.

At the trial, which ended December 23, the prosecution presented no evidence of illegal acts and the defendants were acquitted of the charge of attempted murder. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Hammer told the court that under conspiracy charges the government does not have to prove the defendants agreed on a plan to attack the base, only that there was “intent.” “Just talk is powerful evidence,” he said.

The defendants were never charged with a crime of terrorism. However, at sentencing prosecutors asked the judge for a “terrorism enhancement,” boosting the sentences to life terms.

Omar, who the FBI recruited as an informant in 2006, had been found guilty of bank fraud and was facing immigration charges. The second informant, Besnik Bakalli, was wanted for a shooting in Albania and awaiting deportation. For their efforts Omar was paid more than $240,000 and Bakalli about $15,000. The two snitches spent 15 months cajoling and urging on the young men while taping hundreds of hours of their conversations.

The families of the defendants have been devastated. All have lost their businesses and have lost or on the verge of losing their homes. Ferik Duka, father of the Duka brothers, told the press that the families would continue to make their case. “I’m not going to stop, even if I have to go to President Obama or the Congress just to see justice.”
 
 
Related articles:
Free speech violated in N.Y. ‘terrorism’ case
Poets festival in Toronto backs world fight to free Cuban Five
FBI interrogates Somali students in Minneapolis
Free ‘Ft. Dix 5’ and Javed Iqbal!  
 
 
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