Brazil says no plans to retaliate for unjustifiable detention of citizen

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RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Brazil has no plans to retaliate against British nationals entering the country after one of its own was "unjustifiably" detained and interrogated for nine hours in Britain under an anti-terrorism law, state news agency Agencia Brasil said Tuesday.

The agency said the government is not considering a tit-for-tat measure, because David Miranda's detention Sunday at London's Heathrow airport is regarded as an isolated case.

Miranda's detention was widely seen as a warning to his partner Glenn Greenwald, who has written a series of articles disclosing the extent of the U.S. government's secret global surveillance program, which eavesdrops on digital communications around the world, including Brazil.

Miranda was returning to Rio from Berlin when he was detained at the airport's transit lounge, threatened into divulging his passwords and stripped of his laptop, cellphone and other electronic devices.

Brazil's Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota said on Monday that Miranda's detention was "unjustified," and another instance of official excess committed in the name of fighting terrorism.

Patriota said he discussed the incident with British Foreign Secretary William Hague in the hopes that it will not happen again.

Britain's anti-terrorism law allows the police to detain anyone at a port of entry for up to nine hours before formal charges are brought up.

Miranda said he was detained incommunicado for the full nine hours before being released without any charge, and his belongings remain in the hands of the authorities.

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