Supporters rally: ‘Free the Fort Dix 5!’

Attorneys for the Fort Dix 5 gave oral arguments for five appeals before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia on May 23. With these five appeals and seven more written appeals, the lawyers hope to convince the federal appellate panel to overturn their clients’ convictions, to grant them new trials, or at least to lower their sentences. It may be months before the judges’ decisions are announced.

Before the hearing, dozens of supporters yelled “Free the Fort Dix 5” and other chants and speakers denounced the FBI’s campaign of prosecuting innocent Muslims. The five are all serving long prison terms — three were given life plus 30 years — for a “conspiracy” that amounted to nothing more than a sustained campaign of government entrapment.