Olmert headed to jail; Supreme Court upholds conviction, reduces sentence

Israel’s Supreme Court on Tuesday reduced former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s sentence for bribery to 18 months in prison, down from six years. As a result of his conviction, Olmert became the first former prime minister to be sentenced to jail. He will be incarcerated on February 15.
The court acquitted him of some of the corruption charges due to a lack of supporting evidence as the main witness, Shmuel Dachner, died before testifying. It also reduced Olmert’s one-million-shekel fine to 200,000 shekels.
Olmert, who was prime minister from 2006-2009, was forced out of office by a series of corruption scandals. He also served as mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003.
The corruption charges stem from a multimillion-dollar scandal in which Jerusalem city officials, during Olmert’s term, took bribes to facilitate the building of the Holyland residential complex.
The former prime minister, who along with 17 other people was charged in January 2012 with bribery regarding the project, was found guilty in March 2014 and sentenced to six years behind bars. Olmert appealed the conviction.

 

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