© N/ADavid Miranda and Glenn Greenwald
British authorities detained David Miranda, the partner of
Guardian reporter Glenn Greenwald, for nine hours on Sunday under a counterterrorism law. They held Miranda, 28, a citizen of Brazil, incommunicado and interrogated him without giving him the opportunity to secure legal counsel.
Miranda was stopped by British officers as he passed through London's Heathrow Airport on his way from Berlin to his Rio de Janeiro home, which he shares with Greenwald. The officials released Miranda without charge after nine hours, the maximum detention time allowed under the law. They confiscated Miranda's electronic equipment, including his mobile phone, laptop computer, camera, memory sticks, DVDs and game consoles.
Greenwald has written a series of stories, mainly for the British
Guardian, exposing the mass surveillance programs carried out by the US National Security Agency (NSA), based on documents given to him by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. Along with Snowden, Greenwald has become a target for attacks by US politicians and media figures. Two months ago, David Gregory, the moderator of NBC News' "Meet the Press" program, asked Greenwald in the course of an interview why he should not be prosecuted, along with Snowden, under US espionage laws.