Snowden lawyer stopped at airport

An American lawyer representing former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden was detained and “harassed” at London’s Heathrow airport, according to the Government Accountability Project.

Jesselyn Radack, an attorney with the organization, said that it was clear she was delayed over the weekend because of her relationship with Snowden.

{mosads}The nonprofit legal aid group said that the interrogation violates the law in both the U.S. and U.K.

“When a government subjects the attorney for a political defendant such as Edward Snowden to intimidation and harassment, then in practice, that government infringes the right to counsel,” Executive Director Bea Edwards said in a statement.

“The government of the U.K., together with the U.S. government – to the extent that it cooperated – explicitly violated Edward Snowden’s right to counsel by harassing Ms. Radack, his attorney.”

The organization did not say where Radack from traveling to or from, or whether she had recently met with Snowden.

On Twitter, Radack said after the incident that she was “fine.” 

Border officials had asked her “Who is Edward Snowden?” “Do you know him?” and “Where is Bradley Manning?” she said.

“Heathrow’s Border Force was just trying to intimidate me,” Radack added.

The Government Accountability Project considers Snowden a whistle-blower. He has been charged in the U.S. for espionage and theft of documents.

Both U.S. and U.K. governments enshrine the right to legal representation, as does the international Universal Declaration of Human Rights.