David Miranda had been returning from Berlin when he was stopped and detained at Heathrow airport for nine hours under schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
“I am concerned at the use of terrorism legislation for something that does not appear to relate to terrorism,” Vaz told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme this morning of the incident.
Miranda’s partner Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald has written a number of stories about the information whistleblower Edward Snowden released about the National Security Agency’s (NSA) electronic surveillance programmes in the United States.
Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 allows the police to stop and detain individuals for up to nine hours before either releasing them or formally charging them. It has come under criticism as it gives the authorities the power to stop and search individuals at borders points in the UK without the need for reasonable suspicion as would be required elsewhere.
Photo: Getty.
