Denmark charges 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 former defence minister Claus Hjort Frederiksen said on Tuesday he had been formally charged with leaking highly classified state secrets by the public prosecutor.

Frederiksen, who served as defence minister from 2016 to 2019, was charged under a rarely used section of the penal code that carries a maximum sentence of 12 years in prison, the prosecutor said, without giving the defendant's name.