As reported earlier, six men were arrested as suspects in a terroristic plot against Ft. Dix. The 14 July 2007 issue of the Philadelphia Inquirer released a story about the Ft. Dix suspected terrorists writing to the judge in their case. Dritan Duka stated that the charges of an armed attack on New Jersey's Fort Dix "lies and accusations." The defendants also bemoaned conditions in jail while two of them, Mohammad Shnewer and Duka, who also wrote on behalf of his brothers and codefendants, Shain and Eljvir, while proclaiming their innocence in those letters. The prosecution would like the trial to begin on 9 October but the defense is seeking more time.
Five of the six defendants--Shnewer, 22; Serdar Tatar, 23; and brothers Dritan Duka, 28; Shain Duka, 26, and Eljvir Duka, 23--were charged with plotting a Fort Dix attack that was "inspired by . . . al-Qaeda." They could face a life sentence if convicted.
The sixth defendant, Abdullahu, was charged with supplying some of his codefendants with guns. He faces a 10-year sentence.
Two FBI informants penetrated the group and secretly recorded more than 100 conversations.
All six are foreign-born Muslims who came to live in South Jersey. Shnewer is the lone naturalized U.S. citizen in the group." The Duka brothers, ethnic Albanians from the former Yugoslavia, are in the United States illegally.
Shnewer stated that he twice had "gotten a write up for praying." He included a Bureau of Prisons incident report that said he was chanting loudly in an Arabic dialect at this cell door.
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