09:57
Tieng Anh Vui
David Miranda told the BBC he felt very threatened during his detention
Home Secretary Theresa May has defended the police's use of anti-terror laws to hold and question David Miranda, the partner of a Guardian journalist.
She said it "was right" because it was thought that Mr Miranda was holding information useful to terrorists.
But former Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer said it was not what the powers were meant for.
Mr Miranda is the partner of Glenn Greenwald, who has been reporting on US and British surveillance programmes.
He was held for nine hours at Heathrow Airport on Sunday and said his interrogators threatened he could go to prison if he did not co-operate.
Brazilian national Mr Miranda, 28, was detained under schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 as he travelled from Berlin to Rio de Janeiro, where he lives with Mr Greenwald.
The law allows police to hold someone for up to nine hours for questioning about whether they have been involved with acts of terrorism.
'Not right'
Mrs May told BBC Radio 4's World At One programme: "It is right if the police believe someone has in their possession highly sensitive stolen information that could help terrorists that could lead to a loss of life, it's right the police should act. I believe schedule 7 of this Act enables police to do that."its action
But Lord Falconer said: "If you know they are not a terrorist you can't use these powers. The justification given by the home secretary doesn't look right."
Mr Miranda is challenging the legality of his detention.
Mr Greenwald has been covering stories based on leaks by US whistle-blower Edward Snowden.
Earlier, it emerged that Prime Minister David Cameron ordered Britain's top civil servant, Cabinet Secretary Jeremy Heywood, to contact the Guardian about material it had obtained from Mr Snowden earlier this year.
The discussions resulted in the newspaper destroying a number of computer hard drives in July, under the supervision of intelligence experts from GCHQ.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich criticised Britain's actions.
"The measures taken by the British authorities towards the Guardian newspaper are out of tune with the British side's statements on commitments to universal standards of human rights, including the area of mass media, protecting the rights of journalists, and private life," he said.
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