Anti-terror detention challenge quashed
Print Edition
Britain’s High Court has quashed a legal challenge against the detention under anti-terrorism laws of the partner of Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who brought leaks from former US spy agency contractor Edward Snowden to world attention.
David Miranda had asked the court to rule on the legality of his detention and nine-hour questioning under terrorism legislation last August when he landed at London’s Heathrow Airport en route from Berlin to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
He had argued that such detentions would have “an inevitable chilling effect on journalistic expression.”
British authorities seized items from Miranda which they said included electronic media containing 58,000 documents from the US National Security Agency, Snowden’s former employer, and from its UK counterpart, Government Communications Headquarters.
The High Court ruled yesterday that the detention of the partner of the ex-Guardian newspaper journalist was lawful and that anti-terrorism laws were correctly used.
“In my judgment the Schedule 7 (of the Terrorism Act) stop was a proportionate measure in the circumstances,” said Judge John Laws.
“Its objective was not only legitimate but very pressing.”
Schedule 7 allows for individuals to be stopped, detained for up to nine hours and have items confiscated as they travel through ports and airports, to determine if they are involved in planning terrorist acts.
Amnesty International has criticized Schedule 7 for being an “extremely broad law” that allows the abuse of individual rights due to its vagueness.
Miranda’s lawyers said they had applied for permission to appeal and that the judgment endangered journalism dealing with national security.
“Journalism is at risk of being conflated with terrorism,” said lawyer Gwendolen Morgan.
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