Edward Snowden's Lawyer Claims Harassment From Heathrow Border Agent 261
concertina226 writes "Jesselyn Radack, a human rights lawyer representing Edward Snowden, has claimed that she was detained and questioned in a 'very hostile' manner on Saturday by London Heathrow Airport's Customs staff. Radack freely disclosed to the border agent that she was going to see members of the Sam Adams Associates group, and when he realized that the meeting would be happening at the Ecuadorian Embassy, he went on to ask her if Julian Assange would be in attendance and to ask her about why she had traveled to Russia twice in three months."
The agent barked the questions at Radack (Score:4, Interesting)
Every time I have been through Customs and Immigration in the UK I have witnessed (or been subjected to) the agents there acting in a very demeaning manner towards travelers. To me it is SOP for the UK, to the point that I think the equivalent people in the US actually seem nicer.
So while she may have been targeted because of who she is and who she is representing, the style of the questioning is not surprising.
Non-story (Score:2, Interesting)
Wow... customs agent questions traveler. I'm sorry, but, guess what, THAT'S THEIR JOB. I've had some interesting discussions with officials at airports.
Move along, nothing to see here.
Re:Thugs. (Score:5, Interesting)
Thugs have no authority. The are responsible for the crimes they commit and should be jailed immediately.
...unless they have guns and governmental backing. In this case, they're more properly classified as goons. :(
Usually, the best way to deal with a goon is by one of two methods, depending on governmental status:
1) publicity and shaming of their superiors. You do it hard and heavy enough to generate outrage, and force change to a positive direction (change in policies, fire the SOBs who performed the violations, etc.) When appropriate, a loud and messy lawsuit can provide the same results, and simultaneously enrich you a bit for your time and trouble.
2) subterfuge and quiet resistance. In the case when a government has begun its descent into fascism, your best bet is hide what you must hide, find workarounds to the obstacles, and quietly help remove the fascist elements of the government. As an addendum, carefully probe the possibility of bribery and other methods.
Sadly, we're fast becoming forced to go with #2 - in most of the EU and in the US. In the above case, I suggest that the lady in this story continue to scream bloody murder, and perhaps launch a lawsuit for any credible reason (she's a lawyer, it wouldn't be hard for her to figure out some reason) but meanwhile use the Chunnel next time, and then leave/arrive from a French (or possibly Spanish or German) airport.
*sigh*... if only the population at large would get their eyeballs off the TV and celebrity gossip for long enough to realize just how far down the shitter we're all heading...
Re:Thugs. (Score:3, Interesting)
Hmm, I'm not sure the troll mod is appropriate. There's some superficial similarity there. Using a standing authority to push people around is a bit what beta seems like.
I could see a "flamebait" mod for being, you know, inflammatory, but it's at least relevant and interesting to me.
Re:Realpolitik (Score:4, Interesting)
Oh, they signed something. Well then, that's different. I can't speak too much for England, but I can say the US picked up a lot of bad habits from England... and 1940s Germany too. So if England is anything like the US, then the constitution and local policies and practices trump international agreements. Additionally, "terrorism" defense trumps any and all aspects related to human rights, due process or any of that stuff.
The only thing surprising to me is that a border agent cares enough to harass anyone. But then again, we're talking about border agents, not TSA.
Re:Thugs. (Score:5, Interesting)
The best way to combat such government behavior is a real life DDOS. Everyone should report at Heathrow claiming to know Snowden, Assange and de Miranda. Carry encrypted thumb drives with you (chockfull with vile porn ofcourse). Refuse to decrypt without a court order. This will overload the system within 24 hours.
It would be even funnier if millions of ordinary citizens would end up on the no fly list. Report all government personnel and officials for spying! After all, they are part of a government with a broad illegal spying program targeted against their own population. So report them at home and overseas so they end up on no fly lists. Once a critical mass of people disallowed to fly has been reached, especially public servants, these programs will quickly get a review.
Re:Realpolitik (Score:5, Interesting)
I would go into a diatribe about it but George Carlin said it well enough:
ref: http://mindofv.blogspot.co.nz/2008/04/excerpt-from-george-carlin-on-rights.html
"Now, if you think you do have rights, I have one last assignment for ya. Next time you're at the computer get on the Internet, go to Wikipedia. When you get to Wikipedia, in the search field for Wikipedia, i want to type in, "Japanese-Americans 1942" and you'll find out all about your precious fucking rights. Alright. You know about it.
In 1942 there were 110,000 Japanese-American citizens, in good standing, law abiding people, who were thrown into internment camps simply because their parents were born in the wrong country. That's all they did wrong. They had no right to a lawyer, no right to a fair trial, no right to a jury of their peers, no right to due process of any kind. The only right they had was...right this way! Into the internment camps.
Just when these American citizens needed their rights the most...their government took them away. and rights aren't rights if someone can take em away. They're privileges. That's all we've ever had in this country is a bill of TEMPORARY privileges; and if you read the news, even badly, you know the list get's shorter, and shorter, and shorter.
Yeup, sooner or later the people in this country are going to realize the government doesn't give a fuck about them. the government doesn't care about you, or your children, or your rights, or your welfare or your safety. it simply doesn't give a fuck about you. It's interested in it's own power. That's the only thing...keeping it, and expanding wherever possible.
Personally when it comes to rights, I think one of two things is true: either we have unlimited rights, or we have no rights at all."