14 DAY TRIAL // Back in August, British authorities detained David Miranda, partner of former The Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, for nine hours under anti-terror laws. Now, Miranda, who has promised legal action against the UK shortly after the incident, is taking his case to the high court.
The case the journalist’s assistant is taking to a judge today challenges the legality of his detention and points the finger to the home secretary and the commissioner of the Metropolitan police.
At the time of his detainment, Miranda was returning from Germany and heading off to Rio de Janeiro, where he lives, carrying important NSA documents from the Snowden stash from Laura Poitras to Glenn Greenwald. He was detained on the Heathrow Airport for nine hours, which his attorneys say is a misuse of Schedule Seven of the Terrorism Act 2000 and violates human rights.
Aside from being detained, Miranda’s belongings were seized, including his laptop, mobile phone, memory cards, and DVDs.
Previously, the high court ruled the material seized from him could only be examined for national security purposes, blocking the authorities’ actions to a point.
According to The Guardian, the internal port circulation sheet from the police says that intelligence indicated Miranda was likely involved in espionage activity that had the potential to act against the interests of UK’s national security. The materials he was carrying fell into that category, they said.
The reasoning behind Miranda’s detainment was seen as bogus and many said that this was simply a crass intimidation move from the part of the British authorities directed at journalist Glenn Greenwald, who has been reporting on the Snowden case since June.
The incident was even included in an open letter sent to David Cameron by human rights organizations, which ask the UK government to stop putting pressure on the media, especially since the country is known for claiming the press has full freedom.