UK Minister faces jail threat amid Afghanistan probe

• The Independent Inquiry issued Mercer with a Section 21 notice under Britain’s Inquiries Act 2005 on March 13.
• The order requires Mercer to provide a witness statement containing the names of the whistleblowers by April 5.
• If Mercer fails to comply, he has until April 3 to appeal.

Johnny Mercer, Britain’s minister for veterans, is on a collision course with the law due to his refusal to reveal the sources of allegations that British Special Forces committed war crimes in Afghanistan. Mercer has stated that “multiple officers” informed him about alleged murders and a subsequent cover-up during the Afghan conflict.

The Independent Inquiry Relating to Afghanistan published a statement on Tuesday, announcing that it had ordered Mercer, 42, to hand over the names next week or face a potential prison sentence. It revealed that it had issued the MP with a Section 21 notice under Britain’s Inquiries Act 2005 on March 13. Mercer has refused to divulge their identities to a public inquiry examining whether a unit executed males of “fighting age” who posed no threat in the war-torn country between 2010 and 2013.

The published order compels Mercer to provide a witness statement containing the names of the whistleblowers by 4:00 p.m. (1500 GMT) on Friday, April 5. The notice states that failure to comply without a reasonable excuse would constitute “a criminal offense punishable with imprisonment and/or a fine.”

Signed by the probe’s chairman, Charles Haddon-Cave, the order adds that the High Court in London could enforce it through contempt of court proceedings, which “may result in imprisonment.” The order insists that the names “will be treated in confidence” and would not be disclosed to anyone who is not a member of the inquiry’s legal team without Mercer’s consent. If he is unable to fulfill the order or believes it is unreasonable, then he has until April 3 to appeal. Observers anticipate that Mercer will indeed appeal the decision.

During a series of testy exchanges with the inquiry’s counsel last month, he repeatedly refused to disclose the names. Mercer also declined to reveal the name of a Special Boat Service (SBS) member who stated he had been asked to carry a “drop weapon” — a weapon taken on an operation to place next to an unarmed individual.

“The one thing you can hold on to is your integrity and I will be doing that with these individuals,” said Mercer.

Haddon-Cave accused the minister of obstructing the inquiry, stating that he had a “misguided understanding of the term integrity and an inappropriate sense of loyalty.” Mercer, a former British Army officer who served three tours of Afghanistan himself, has been a Conservative MP in Plymouth, southwest England, since 2015.

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