In wake of Olmert acquittals, state to reexamine aspects of Holyland real estate case
Deputy AG says prosecutors in charge of former PM's ongoing trial will study Tuesday's verdict and adjust their case accordingly
The prosecution may need to reconsider aspects of its prosecution of the Holyland real estate bribery scandal involving Ehud Olmert, Deputy Attorney General Raz Nizri told Army Radio Wednesday morning, a day after the former prime minister was cleared on two other charges.
Olmert was convicted Tuesday of a third, lesser charge of breach of trust, and is still on trial for his role in the Holyland real estate scandal, in which prosecutors allege a number of officials took bribes to allow the expansion of the Jerusalem high-rise housing project.
One of the witnesses in the Holyland case is American businessman Morris Talansky, who was also a key witness in one of the cases that Olmert beat Tuesday. In that case, Talansky had told the judges he gave Olmert envelopes of cash, but the judges found his testimony lacking and acquitted Olmert of improper dealings.
Those in charge of the Holyland case “will closely study” the 740-page verdict that acquitted Olmert, Nizri said. If there are lessons to be learned for the pending case, “they will be implemented.”
The deputy attorney general said it was the prosecution’s duty to adjust its case when necessary, especially in trials with political implications or that involve a former prime minister.
On Tuesday the Jerusalem District Court cleared Olmert of charges of double billing for trips abroad in what was known as the Rishon Tours case, and of charges of illegally taking money from Talansky.
Fourteen people were being prosecuted in the Holyland affair, Nizri noted.
That case, considered by many the most serious corruption scandal in Israeli history, implicated Olmert, former Jerusalem mayor Uri Lupolianski, and former Israel Lands Administration director Yaakov Efrati, among others.
Olmert is being tried for acts allegedly committed while he was mayor of the capital, from 1993 to 2003. He denies wrongdoing.
Tuesday’s verdict caused some politicians and analysts to call for the resignation of State Attorney Moshe Lador, saying his “baseless” actions caused Olmert to resign from his post. Lador defended the decision to press charges, saying there was a solid case and the prime minister was not above the law.
Nizri told Army Radio he, too, had supported the decision. The court had not questioned any of the facts the prosecution presented, he said, but only differed with the prosecution regarding whether those facts proved Olmert was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.