Jemima charged with smuggling antiques

LAHORE, Jan 12: Cricket star-turned politician Imran Khan accused the government of political victimisation today after customs officials charged his wife with smuggling of antiques tiles, reports AP.

British-born Jemima Khan, the daughter of the late British millionaire businessman James Goldsmith, was sending 397 tiles to her mother in London in December when the package was seized by the customs authorities.

The archeological department examined the tiles and said in a report that the tiles were "of paramount archeological interest and belonged to the Islamic era."

"The tiles are 300-to-400-year-old and are similar to those stolen from different archeological sites of the country," an official of the archeological department told The Associated Press, on condition he not be identified.

It is illegal in Pakistan to export antiques.

Jemima, who is currently in Britain, can face a six-month jail sentence and 5,000 rupees (dlrs 108) fine if found guilty.

"The cases is fake... I will file a defamation case against the Custom Department which has become a tool in the hands of the government in victimising political opponents," Imran Khan told The Associated Press.

He said the titles were purchased from a shop in the federal capital Islamabad.

"The shop has given us a certificate that the tiles are not antiques," he said.

The archeological department stood its ground.

"The tiles are antiques and are priceless," said the official.

Customs Inspector Mohammed Raiz Rana said Jemima had under-valued the tiles.

But her husband said the government was trying to malign his wife with a false case because he criticised the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Khan, whose newly formed Tehrik-e-Insaaf, or Movement for Justice failed to win a single seat in the last elections, has publicly accused Sharif of massive corruption, tax evasion and loan defaults.

Sharif denies the charges.