Denmark to charge ex-defence minister with leaking state secrets

FILE PHOTO: Denmark’s Defence Minister Claus Hjort Frederiksen speaks during a press conference after the official ceremony welcoming the deployment of a multi-national NATO battalion in Tapa, Estonia, April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Denmark's public prosecutor is set to formally charge former defence minister Claus Hjort Frederiksen with leaking highly classified state secrets, the justice ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

Frederiksen, who served as defence minister between 2016 and 2019, said in January he had been preliminarily charged with violating a section of the penal code, which includes treason for leaking state secrets.