
Julian Assange's lawyers say they are being watched - jacquesm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/dec/05/julian-assange-lawyers-being-watched
======
jacquesm
It gets wilder every day. In case you don't understand why this is
inappropriate:

Lawyers are separate from their clients and should have the freedom to do
their jobs without being identified by the causes of their clients.
Essentially the state department (of all entities) lumps the two together
here, as though the lawyers are in the wrong for having WikiLeaks / Assange as
customers.

~~~
lionhearted
It strikes me that they try to invoke American law when it's convenient to
them, and claim they're outside of the scope of American law when it's
convenient to them.

Positions that normally receive immunity - lawyers, priests, spouses,
psychiatrists - lose that immunity if they participate in crimes. If the State
Department believes Assange's lawyers are helping disseminate stolen
documents, then they absolutely should be watching them.

They're encouraging people to break the law to disrupt American foreign
policy. Then they say it's inappropriate for the American government to pay
attention to them. You can't really have it both ways like that.

~~~
joshes
Absurd. You have no proof that his lawyers are encouraging anyone to break the
law. You're trying to have it both ways by saying "If the State Department
believes..." immediately followed by "They are..."

They are defending a client, which, if I am not mistaken, is perfectly within
their rights and is part of their job description. It is not the role of the
American government to spy on innocent lawyers. And if you believe the
American government is not bound by their own rules, you are mistaken.

------
ZeroMinx
Considering what's been happening last few days; Is anyone at all surprised by
this?

I am however intrigued to see where all this will lead..

~~~
illumen
Most politicians who have dealt with the usa internationally will have their
dirty laundry aired.

There seems to be some pretty massive stories coming out in the news, for many
countries on an hourly basis. I only see this snowballing, and the effects
will be seen shortly and into the far future.

This is a massive attack on the whole political class. Not just a scandal in
one country, but in most - at the same time.

Very interesting times indeed.

------
cosgroveb
Interesting that war criminals at the Hague can presumably get legal counsel
without their lawyers being harassed or shaken down but expose a few corrupt
governments and never mind that.

------
tzs
All of the governments who have reason to be pissed at Wikileaks enough to
want to watch the lawyers are also smart enough to use watchers who would not
be so easily spotted.

The people they think they spotted (if they are indeed watching them) are
probably investigative reporters.

The obvious thing to do is to go out and _ask_ them "why are you watching me?"
and see what they say.

------
eli
Julian Assange has a history of, well, exaggerating about the threats against
him. I personally think it's part of conscious PR strategy rather than
paranoia, but either way I wouldn't necessarily take this story at face value.

~~~
brl
> Julian Assange has a history of, well, exaggerating about the threats
> against him.

Do you care to substantiate that?

Assange, who has not been charged with any crime, is currently the subject of
an international arrest warrant which oddly (to put it mildly) specifies that
he be held incommunicado without access to legal counsel or any other contact
with the outside world.

[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8175255/...](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8175255/WikiLeaks-
British-police-asked-to-join-hunt-for-Julian-Assange.html)

~~~
eli
In May, he made headlines around the world when he claimed his passport had
been confiscated by authorities. It turns out this was a gross exaggeration --
his passport was held by customs for _15 minutes_ while they inspected it as
part of a routine procedure. ([http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-
news/australi...](http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-
news/australian-wikileak-founders-passport-confiscated-20100516-v6dw.html))

It seems every few months there's more signs of government harassment. One
time it was that two state department employees were on the same flight as him
while traveling to a conference. Another, it was a piece of checked luggage
that was most likely "intercepted" and not merely lost by the airline.

I haven't seen a whole lot of _evidence_ of these supposed dirty tricks.
Doesn't mean they aren't happening ... but I'm personally quite skeptical. I
think Julian Assange is an especially gifted PR man.

