The Philadelphia trial for five Muslim men accused of plotting an attack on Fort Dix, N.J., has been delayed based on their complaints of access to evidence.

U.S. District Judge Robert Kugler heard defense lawyers complain Tuesday they haven't been given enough time in jail to review the voluminous evidence, including transcripts of about 200 hours of secretly recorded conversations, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported Wednesday.

The men were arrested in May and are being held in a special unit of the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia.

Kugler set a Dec. 20 hearing to determine if the men should be given bail or other options to allow them more time with their lawyers, the report said.

The men -- one born in Jordan, another in Turkey and three in the former Yugoslavia -- also complained about food and treatment by guards, the newspaper said.

Kugler told the defense lawyers news coverage of their motions would make it harder to eventually find an impartial jury.

"I imagine that most of the people who read all this are not going to be terribly sympathetic to your clients," he said.  // Copyright 2007 by United Press International



Publication date: 28 November 2007   

Source:

Archive