MI5 men could face 'torture' perjury charge over Guantanamo prisoner

Piling on the pressure: David Davis says the law must be upheld



Two MI5 agents may be charged with lying to the High Court over British complicity in the torture of a former Guantanamo prisoner.

In an unprecedented move, the court has issued a ‘revised judgment’ a year after its original ruling, contradicting the testimony of the agents, who are already the subject of a criminal investigation by the Metropolitan Police.

Former Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said yesterday: ‘The Home Secretary has a duty to uphold the law.

‘The fact the Attorney General referred this matter to the police shows that there is a case to answer.’

Binyam Mohamed, 30, an Ethiopian living in London, was captured in Pakistan in 2002, then ‘rendered’ to Morocco by the CIA and tortured for 18 months.



After a further four years in Guantanamo, he was released without charge in February.

The court revealed that MI5 ‘knew’ Mr Mohamed had been rendered and that one of the agents had not told it about three trips to Morocco he made while Mr Mohamed was being tortured.

Clive Stafford Smith, one of Mr Mohamed’s lawyers, said: ‘The agents committed perjury.

The police will want to take this into account when conducting their investigation.’