Novelist Charged Over Libel Case

Jeffrey Archer, the millionaire British novelist and onetime golden boy of the Conservative Party, was charged with perjury and perverting the course of justice over his 1987 libel trial. Archer had filed and won the libel suit after a tabloid accused him of hiring a prostitute. Last year, he acknowledged asking a friend to lie and say they had dinner together on a night when he was actually dining with a close female friend. Archer could face a maximum of seven years in jail if convicted of perjury. Attempting to pervert the course of justice can theoretically result in a life sentence, but such a harsh penalty is virtually never imposed.