In his
first interview since returning to his home in Rio de
Janeiro early on Monday, Miranda said the authorities in the
UK had pandered to the US in trying to intimidate him and
force him to reveal the passwords to his computer and mobile
phone.
"They
were threatening me all the time and saying I would be put
in jail if I didn't co-operate," said Miranda. "They treated
me like I was a criminal or someone about to attack the UK …
It was exhausting and frustrating, but I knew I wasn't doing
anything wrong."
Miranda – a Brazilian national who lives with Greenwald in
Rio – was held for the maximum time permitted under schedule
seven of the Terrorism Act 2000 which allows officers to
stop, search and question individuals at airports, ports and
border areas.
During
that time, he said, he was not allowed to call his partner,
who is a qualified lawyer in the US, nor was he given an
interpreter, despite being promised one because he felt
uncomfortable speaking in a second language.
"I was
in a different country with different laws, in a room with
seven agents coming and going who kept asking me questions.
I thought anything could happen. I thought I might be
detained for a very long time," he said.
He was
on his way back from Berlin, where he was ferrying materials
between Greenwald and Laura Poitras, the US film-maker who
has also been working on stories related to the
NSA files released by US whistle-blower Edward Snowden.
Miranda was seized almost as soon as his British Airways
flight touched down on Sunday morning. "There was an
announcement on the plane that everyone had to show their
passports. The minute I stepped out of the plane they took
me away to a small room with four chairs and a machine for
taking fingerprints," he recalled.
His
carry-on bags were searched and, he says, police confiscated
a computer, two pen drives, an external hard drive and
several other electronic items, including a games console,
as well two newly bought watches and phones that were
packaged and boxed in his stowed luggage.
"They
got me to tell them the passwords for my computer and mobile
phone," Miranda said. "They said I was obliged to answer all
their questions and used the words 'prison' and 'station'
all the time."
"It is
clear why they took me. It's because I'm Glenn's partner.
Because I went to Berlin. Because Laura lives there. So they
think I have a big connection," he said. "But I don't have a
role. I don't look at documents. I don't even know if it was
documents that I was carrying. It could have been for the
movie that Laura is working on."
Miranda was told he was being detained under the Terrorism
Act. He was never accused of being a terrorist or being
associated with terrorists, but he was told that if – after
nine hours – his interrogators did not think he was being
co-operative, then he could be taken to a police station and
put in jail.
"This
law shouldn't be given to police officers. They use it to
get access to documents or people that they cannot get the
legal way through courts or judges," said Miranda. "It's a
total abuse of power."
He was
offered a lawyer and a cup of water, but he refused both
because he did not trust the authorities. The questions, he
said, were relentless – about Greenwald, Snowden, Poitras
and a host of other apparently random subjects.
"They
even asked me about the protests in
Brazil, why people were unhappy and who I knew in the
government," said Miranda.
He got
his first drink – from a Coke machine in the corridor –
after eight hours and was eventually released almost an hour
later. Police records show he had been held from 08.05 to
17.00.
Unable
immediately to find a flight for him back to Rio, Miranda
says the Heathrow police then escorted him to passport
control so he could enter Britain and wait there.
"It
was ridiculous," he said. "First they treat me like a
terrorist suspect. Then they are ready to release me in the
UK."
Although he believes the British authorities were doing the
bidding of the US, Miranda says his view of the UK has
completely changed as a result of the experience.
"I
have friends in the UK and liked to visit, but you can't go
to a country where they have laws that allow the abuse of
liberty for nothing," he said.
The
White House on Monday insisted that it was not involved in
the decision to detain Miranda, though a spokesman said US
officials had been given a "heads up" by British officials
beforehand.
The
Brazilian government
has expressed grave concern about the "unjustified"
detention.
Speaking by phone from the couple's home in the Tijuca
forest, Miranda said it felt "awesome" to be back. "It's
really good to be here. I felt the weight lift off my
shoulders as soon I got back. Brazil feels very secure, very
safe," he said. "I knew my country would protect me, and I
believe in my husband and knew that he would do anything to
help me."