Prisons Service prepares VIP wing for Olmert, others
Ma'asiyahu Prison complex to offer safe setting for high-level convicts, including former mayors, security agents
Ramle’s Ma’asiyahu Prison is set to receive a new, luxurious wing — for a prison — that will likely soon be the home of disgraced former prime minister Ehud Olmert.
A $1 million renovation begun this week in the prison will result in the most spacious and comfortable facility in the nation’s prison system, the Haaretz daily reported.
Olmert is slated to serve nearly seven years in the prison for separate bribery and fraud convictions — the first Israeli premier to be sentenced to time behind bars.
The Prisons Service told the Israeli daily that the renovated wing will be home to special convicts who must be kept apart from other prisoners for “security reasons.”
As prime minister from 2006 to 2009, Olmert was privy to Israel’s most sensitive secrets, from military and intelligence assets to law enforcement and other intelligence.
Other inmates in the special wing will include former mayors, police officers and security agents.
“This decision was reached after all relevant agencies concurred that Olmert shouldn’t be kept in isolation or in a closed-off ward. A solution was required in which he could mingle with other prisoners, at minimum risk,” the paper explained.
Olmert faces a final Supreme Court appeal on parts of his sentences in October. Barring any dramatic reversal in his case, he will begin serving his sentences by year’s end.