Supreme Court rejects ex-top cop’s appeal against prison term for sex crimes, fraud

Supreme Court Chief Justice Esther Hayut on Sunday rejected a renewed appeal by a former Jerusalem police chief sentenced to prison for sexual harassment, fraud, and breach of trust.

Nissan “Niso” Shaham had asked for a hearing before an expanded bench, after the Supreme Court in November rejected an appeal against his 10-month prison sentence.

Hayut said additional hearings are rare and only held under special circumstances, which she ruled did not apply in Shaham’s case.

With the ruling, he is now due to enter prison on March 1.

Shaham was sentenced to prison in 2020, after a district court convicted him the year before on charges relating to misconduct involving several female officers under his command.

That ruling overturned an April 2018 verdict that convicted him only of the lesser charge of carrying out an indecent act.

Along with the prison sentence, Shaham received five months of probation. He was also fined NIS 7,500 (approximately $2,400) and ordered to compensate two of the victims with NIS 1,500 (approximately $480) and a further victim with NIS 500 (approximately $160).

Shaham was first convicted in April 2018 for kissing a junior officer, but was acquitted of the other charges filed against him. Prosecutors had claimed that on several occasions Shaham had coerced police officers into sleeping with him, and later made decisions about their careers.

He was sentenced in December 2018 to community service, but in September 2019, the Tel Aviv District Court accepted the appeal by the state, overturned the decision to clear Shaham of sexual harassment, fraud, and breach of trust, and convicted him of the original charges.

It then kicked the case back down to the Magistrate’s Court for the sentencing. An appeal was heard and rejected by the Tel Aviv District Court in July 2020, before the case went to the Supreme Court.