UNITED STATES: Texas Governor Rick Perry vowed yesterday to fight a “political” indictment against him that could come with a five to 99-year prison term.

The 2016 Republican presidential hopeful was charged with coercion for vetoing state funds to a Democratic district attorney who had refused to resign after a drink-driving arrest.

Mr Perry was indicted on Friday by a grand jury in Austin, a Democratic enclave in the largely Republican-dominated state.