16:48
Tieng Anh Vui
Brazil says the detention under British terror laws of one of its citizens at London's Heathrow airport caused "grave concern" and was "unjustified".
David Miranda, the partner of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald who published documents leaked by Edward Snowden, was held at Heathrow for nine hours on his way to Rio de Janeiro.
He reportedly had his mobile phone, laptop, DVDs and other items seized.
Mr Miranda was later released by British authorities.
Mr Greenwald called his partner's detention an "intimidation" and a "profound attack on press freedoms".
Under the Terrorism Act 2000, UK police can hold someone at an airport for up to nine hours - but the power must be used appropriately and proportionately and is subject to independent scrutiny.
Amnesty International says the incident shows the law can be abused for what it described as "petty and vindictive reasons."
'Serious threat'
"To detain my partner for a full nine hours while denying him a lawyer, and then seize large amounts of his possessions, is clearly intended to send a message of intimidation to those of us who have been reporting on the NSA [United States National Security Agency] and GCHQ [Government Communications Headquarters]," he wrote in The Guardian.
Mr Greenwald said the British authorities' actions were a "serious threat to journalists everywhere".
The Brazilian government issued an official statement soon after the release of David Miranda.
The foreign ministry document says there was no justification for detaining an "individual against whom there are no charges that can legitimate the use of that [anti-terror] legislation".
It also says Brazil expects incidents "such as the one that happened to the Brazilian citizen today" not to be repeated.
Mr Miranda was flying back from the German capital, Berlin, to Rio de Janeiro, where he lives with Mr Greenwald, when he was detained in transit through Heathrow.
In Germany, he had met US film-maker Laura Poitras, who has also been working on the Snowden files with Greenwald and the Guardian. according to the newspaper.
Following his detention at Heathrow, Brazilian government officials and Guardian lawyers were called to the airport, The Guardian says.
The NSA has broken privacy rules and overstepped its legal authority thousands of times in the past two years, according to documents leaked by Edward Snowden.
The incidents resulted in the unauthorised electronic surveillance of US citizens, it is alleged.
Mr Snowden, a former NSA contractor, has leaked top secret documents to the US and British media.
He has been given asylum in Russia.
Đăng ký: Tieng Anh Vui
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