Brazil has expressed concern over the detention of partner of the journalist who helped in revealing NSA programs from whistleblower Edward Snowden after he was allegedly detained at London's Heathrow Airport for nine hours under the Terrorism Act.
Brazil said that such a detention of one of its citizens was 'unjustified' and concerned the government.
David Miranda, partner of Guardian reporter Glenn Greenwald was returning Brazil from Germany when he was detained by the British authorities under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act, which allows security agencies to stop and question people at borders and was later released without being arrested, BBC reports.
Greenwald, who has written a series of stories about the NSA programs based on Snowden's files, said that Miranda's detention was 'intimidating' and a 'profound attack on the freedom of press'.
He added that Miranda's cellphone, laptops and memory sticks were confiscated and the British authorities did not ask him about terrorism but spent the entire day asking about the reporting he and other Guardian journalists were doing on the NSA stories.
The Brazilian foreign ministry slammed the act and said that there is no justification for detaining an individual over no charges that can legitimate the use of anti-terror legislation.
Greenwald further added that such an act sends a message of 'intimation and bullying' which is going to accomplish the opposite effect making him report more aggressively about the NSA leaks, the report added.