President Reuven Rivlin rejects a clemency request from Israel’s former Ashkenazi chief rabbi, Yona Metzger, who is serving a 3.5-year prison sentence after being convicted on a string of corruption charges.
The president notes that a pardon “is intended for isolated and exceptional cases,” saying he had reviewed the case and given his opinion on the evidence and the crimes in a letter to Metzger, Hebrew-language media reports.
Metzger is expected to face a parole board soon, where it is thought he will argue for early release and relief from the fines imposed by his sentence.
In 2017, Metzger pleaded guilty to fraud, theft, conspiracy, breach of trust, money laundering, tax offenses and accepting bribes involving some NIS 10 million ($2.6 million) under a plea bargain reached with state prosecutors.
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From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, January 29, 2019
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