Demonstrators gather to protest holding Midamar founder until sentencing

CEDAR RAPIDS - A group of around twenty people took to the sidewalks of the federal courthouse asking for a dismissal of Bill Aossey's case.

Aossey's company, Midamar, was convicted in July of falsely labeling meat shipped overseas to Malaysia and Indonesia as ahearing to strict Muslim slaughtering practices.

Judge Linda R. Reade has not sentenced Aossey, but did require he remain in jail until sentencing because he is considered a flight risk.

Aossey's brother, Joe, said that label isn't true.

'He's been there five weeks. My family has been in this country for over 125 years, so the idea of flight risk doesn't exist, and the idea that Bill is a threat to this country is pretty ill-founded,” demonstrator Joe Aossey said. 'The question is, why is he in jail?”

Many supporters held signs and walked up and down the street, some stating hes only in jail because of his Muslim background.

'The American legal scholar Ronald Dworkin said that if our system of justice doesn't work, then it's all over. I believe what's happened with Bill Aossey is that the system of justice is not working,” Hal Saundrol said. 'What he did was a matter for the Department of Agriculture, not the U.S. District Court.”