Legal Ethics
Gitmo Lawyers Say Gov’t. Interferes With Defense
Posted Mar 17, 2008, 06:16 pm CST
By Martha Neil
Lawyers for four Kuwaitis being held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, say government prosecutors are violating standard legal ethics rules by contacting defendants whom they know to be represented by counsel.
In an emergency petition last week, they contend the chief military prosecutor says he doesn't need their permission to contact defendants, because they don't represent the four detainees in war-crimes tribunals, reports the Associated Press. But Matthew MacLean, a Washington, D.C., attorney, says others have recognized that he represents the Kuwaitis, and adds that prosecutors have told his clients their lawyers are Jewish, in another effort to interfere with the attorney-client relationship.
''Are these prosecutors bound by the rules that are binding on all prosecutors everywhere?'' MacLean asks the news agency. "Or are these prosecutors going to be allowed to be cowboys, doing whatever they want?''