KARACHI • An anti-graft court in Pakistan has indicted former president Asif Ali Zardari and declared former premier Nawaz Sharif an absconder in corruption cases, the latest move in multiple legal proceedings against the political opponents of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

An accountability court judge, Judge Syed Asghar Ali, framed charges against Zardari, the co-chairman of the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party, for illegally accepting gifts from foreign rulers when he was the president from 2008 to 2013, a deputy prosecutor of the National Accountability Bureau said on the phone.

In the same case, Sharif was declared an absconder.

Both the leaders are on bail in other corruption cases.

Sharif, who was the South Asian nation's premier from 2013 to 2017 and was jailed in a corruption case in 2018, has been in London for about nine months seeking medical treatment.

Pakistan had written to the British authorities earlier this year to seek the return of Sharif, who flew to London after a court granted him indefinite bail on medical grounds. Sharif was serving a seven-year jail term before being granted bail.

Pakistan cannot seek his extradition because it has no extradition treaty with Britain.

There is a lot of scepticism among legal and political experts about the way Sharif's trial was conducted, and most think Pakistan's powerful military might have colluded with the judiciary to sideline a popular leader. Sharif, known as an advocate for civilian supremacy in a country ruled by generals for decades, had rough relations with the military and the judiciary.

Zardari became president in 2008 after Pakistan's former military dictator Pervez Musharraf was forced to resign. Zardari's wife Benazir Bhutto served twice as prime minister before being killed by the Taleban in 2007.

Last month, the accountability court formally framed separate charges against Zardari for buying assets overseas from undeclared sources. He was accused of having dozens of bogus bank accounts - a charge he denies.

The indictments are the latest in a string of legal proceedings against Mr Khan's political opponents.

Since coming to power, Mr Khan has pledged that his government would make good on his election campaign promise to fight corruption on all fronts. Opposition parties accuse the government of persecution.

Pakistan's anti-graft body has arrested several politicians and businessmen on corruption charges since Mr Khan took office in 2018 after winning a narrow majority in parliamentary elections.

BLOOMBERG