Ex-prime minister of Israel out on parole
ISRAELI ex-prime minister Ehud Olmert was paroled yesterday, shaving about a third off his 27-month prison sentence for corruption scandals that brought down his promising political career.
Olmert, the country’s first former premier to serve jail time, did not give interviews when leaving prison, accompanied by security agents.
The 71-year-old, premier between 2006 and 2009, was convicted of graft and jailed in February 2016. He was granted early release by a parole board on Thursday. Prosecutors decided not to appeal the decision.
The conditions of his parole were not made public, but Israeli media reported that they include reporting to police twice a month and a ban on leaving the country. He must also volunteer at associations that help the poor, Haaretz newspaper reported.
He can request a pardon from President Reuven Rivlin that would lift the restrictions. In March, Rivlin rejected a request for clemency by Olmert, but said he could consider pardoning him if he were granted parole.
Olmert, of the centre-right Kadima party when prime minister, resigned in September 2008 after police recommended he be indicted for graft. He however remained in office until March 2009, when rightwing Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu was sworn in to the post.
Olmert won international acclaim for relaunching peace efforts with the Palestinians at the Annapolis conference in the US in 2007, but they failed to bear fruit and the corruption charges against him have come to define his legacy.
Olmert was recently rushed to hospital after experiencing chest pains in prison. He underwent examinations which determined he was healthy and he returned to prison.
He could still face new criminal charges, though some Israeli media reported that the probe is expected to be dropped.
Last month, the state attorney’s office instructed police to investigate suspicions Olmert had smuggled a chapter of a book he was writing out of prison, an act that would constitute a crime due to the “secretive” content, the justice ministry said.
Police had raided the office of the publisher and seized Olmert’s manuscript as well as other materials out of fears their dissemination – prior to the mandatory censorship they would be subject to – could cause “severe security damage”, the ministry said.
Olmert’s original 27-month prison term was made up of 18 months for taking bribes in the early 2000s in connection with the construction of Jerusalem’s huge Holyland residential complex; eight months for a separate case of fraud and corruption; and another month for obstructing justice.
The main convictions against him dated to before his time as prime minister, to when he served as mayor of Jerusalem and economic minister, among other positions. — AFP