Judges claim national security concerns as Miranda was carrying NSA leaked docs

Feb 19, 2014 12:56 GMT  ·  By

British judges see absolutely nothing wrong with the detention of David Miranda, Glenn Greenwald’s partner, for nine hours on Heathrow airport last year.

According to The Guardian, three judges ruled that the detention was not unlawful. However, they did admit that the incident constituted an interference with press freedom. Unfortunately, they say that even press freedom is trumped by national security concerns.

At the time, David Miranda was traveling from Germany to Brazil, via London, and was carrying several NSA documents on a thumb drive, taking them from Laura Poitras to Greenwald. He was detained for nine hours, the maximum number of hours allowed, and his electronic devices were seized.

The British agents claimed that Miranda was being held under anti-terrorism laws, something that many consider to be an abuse of power.

Human rights activists have deemed the action as an effort to intimidate journalists working on the NSA leaked files. Ever since then, the British authorities have taken similar actions against other people connected to the scandal as well, including a whistleblower lawyer.

Miranda is not stopping here, though. He plans to appeal at the court of appeal, as his solicitors have confirmed. Glenn Greenwald said that Miranda would appeal against the ruling up to the UK Supreme Court, if necessary, and then take the case to the European Court of Human Rights.

“Despite recognizing that the proper functioning of a modern participatory democracy requires that the media be free, active, professional and enquiring, this judgment leaves little room for responsible investigative journalism which touches on national security issues. Journalism is currently at risk of being conflated with terrorism. Therefore, our client has no option but to appeal,” said Gwendolen Morgan, Miranda’s lawyer.

The impact that such a decision and Miranda’s detainment have on the freedom of the press has been heavily debated over the past several months and has attracted harsh criticism to the UK, even from the European Union.