British lawmakers will try to enact an ancient law not used in over 200 years to impeach former prime minister Tony Blair when the Chilcot report, due to be released Wednesday, potentially reveals whether he lied when making the decision to send British troops to Iraq.
Blair served until 2007, but an impeachment could send him to jail with a parliamentary vote and trial. MP Alex Salmond, former First Minister of Scotland, has garnered the support of multiple parties by arguing that the former prime minister exceeded his duties by leading the country into a deadly war.
Should the Chilcot report not lead to judicial action, Salmond said that he would bring the case to the International Criminal Court. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has also proposed trying Blair for war crimes on the grounds that he engaged in an illegal war based on the lie that Saddam Hussein held weapons of mass destruction.
The ICC, however, told The Independent that it has already ruled out trying Blair for war crimes, but that it will look into torture and abuse by British soldiers.
The Chilcot report, seven years in the making, investigates the role of the Labour party in the Iraq war but is not expected to provide any evidence of illegal acts committed by Blair or other politicians.
With over 130 sessions of oral arguments and 150,000 documents examined, the report is however expected to damage the reputation of Blair and several other politicians.
Blair decided to join the United States when it stood alone in its insistence to invade Iraq. The war claimed the lives of 179 British soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis.
