Trial on plot to kill Dix soldiers opens today

[unhappycamper]

Trial on plot to kill Dix soldiers opens today
By Geoff Mulvihill - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Sep 29, 2008 6:03:02 EDT

CAMDEN, N.J. — The arrests seemed like a startling wakeup call to America: Federal authorities said a group of would-be terrorists were foiled in a plot to sneak onto a New Jersey military base and kill soldiers.

The federal government argues that the May 2007 arrests of Serdar Tatar, Mohamad Ibrahim Shnewer and the brothers Dritan, Eljvir and Shain Duka saved innocent lives. Defense lawyers contend there was no plot and that the government paid an informant to get them to discuss one.

The trial, which opens with jury selection Monday, isn’t a whodunit. The key question will center on whether the men would have done it.

The case will be watched closely because it represents a type of pre-emptive prosecution that has grown more common in U.S. terrorism cases since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks — which troubles some experts.

“Lately, the government has been instructing its informants and taking a more active approach in planning and participation” of illegal acts, said Henry Klingeman, a former federal prosecutor who was the defense lawyer in another New Jersey terrorism case three years ago.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/ap_dix_092808/%2e