http://www.b92.net/eng/news/globe-article.php?yyyy=2007&mm=09&dd=08&nav_category=117&nav_id=43601
Fort Dix plot jury to be anonymous 8 September 2007 | 11:39 | Source: AP *CAMDEN -- An anonymous jury will hear the case of six men accused of plotting to attack soldiers at a U.S. Army base in New Jersey. * U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler rejected defense complaints that such a jury would be biased against their clients. The six men — four ethnic Albanians from the former Yugoslavia, a Jordanian and a Turk who are all in their 20s — were arrested in May and charged with planning to raid the Fort Dix military installation and kill soldiers. Five face charges that they conspired to kill members of the military; the sixth faces only weapons charges. Kugler agreed with federal prosecutors that the trial presents an exceptional case and could create apprehensive jurors. Several factors led to his decision, including pretrial publicity, he said. "Clearly, there is extraordinary media attention," Kugler said during a pretrial conference with defense lawyers. Kugler has been pushing for a trial later this year, but defense lawyers said they might not be prepared by then to defend a case that involved hundreds of hours of conversations recorded by two paid government informants. Five of the men — the brothers Dritan, Shain and Eljvir Duka; Mohamad Ibrahim Shnewer; and Serdar Tatar — face life in prison if convicted of conspiracy to murder military personnel. T he sixth, Agron Abdullahu, is charged with weapons offenses punishable by 10 years in prison. His lawyer said he would move to have Abdullahu tried separately. All six have pleaded not guilty. The suspects were born overseas but have spent many years living in Philadelphia's southern New Jersey suburbs. Authorities said the six scouted out East Coast military installations to find one to attack but settled on Fort Dix largely because Tatar knew his way around from delivering pizzas to the base for his father's restaurant. The military base is being used largely to train reservists bound for Iraq. Prosecutors said they were concerned that jurors could be intimidated because of the nature of the charges and the possibility the media would pursue jurors if their names were released. "There is a need to limit the intrusion, potentially, into jurors' lives," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven R. Stigall. The judge said that while the suspects are not accused of being part of a terrorist organization, there are groups in the United States that could sympathize with views attributed to the suspects. He decided the that defense teams would know what town a juror is from, but not their name or street address. All six defense lawyers opposed the prosecution bid for an anonymous jury. Rocco Cipparone, the lawyer for Shnewer, argued that the suspects have little ability to harm jurors because they are being held in near-isolation at a federal detention center in Philadelphia. All six suspects attended the 90-minute hearing Thursday, seated in the jury box, shackled and wearing green prison garb. Most smiled as they entered the courtroom and looked toward about 30 family members, including children, who were attending. Kugler has set a Nov. 5 trial date, but defense lawyers said they might not be prepared by then. Rocco Cipparone, who represents Mohamad Ibrahim Shnewer of Cherry Hill, N.J., the alleged ringleader, accused federal prosecutors of using inflammatory language, Fox 29 in Philadelphia reported. He said that would make it difficult to get an impartial jury.
