A Jerusalem court on Wednesday acquitted Israel’s former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman of fraud and breach of trust charges, paving the way for the right-wing lawmaker to return to his old job.
Lieberman stood down as foreign minister before parliamentary elections earlier this year to face the charges, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the portfolio himself as a temporary solution, pending the outcome of the trial.
Netanyahu telephoned Lieberman immediately after the verdict, congratulating him and telling him he was happy about his "return to the government of Israel," a statement from the prime minister's office said.
Lieberman, appearing outside the courtroom, said of the trial: ``this chapter is behind me...I will focus on the challenges ahead, and there are enough of them.’’
Lieberman heads the Israel Beiteinu party, which formed an alliance with Netanyahu's Likud party in the January elections.
As foreign minister, he was controversial because of his outspoken and hardliner views.
He has already dismissed the revived peace negotiations with the Palestinians, saying he does not believe in their chances of success.
Lieberman had been accused of appointing an Israeli diplomat as ambassador to Latvia as a way of thanking him for providing classified documents about a separate police investigation.
It was alleged that he illegally received millions of dollars from various foreign businessmen.
That separate investigation was closed last year due to insufficient evidence.
Wednesday's verdict came after 17 years of corruption allegations against Lieberman.
Opposition leader Shelly Yechimovich, of the left-of-centre Labour Party, said that in spite of the acquittal, she believed that Lieberman had at least broken ethical codes of behaviour.
0 comments:
Post a Comment