Olmert's attorneys to appeal Talansky's early testimony
Lawyers for Prime Minister Ehud K. Olmert are to appeal an order granted on Friday permitting the State's attorney to obtain testimony from Morris (Moshe) Talansky before Talansky leaves the country. His lawyer's say that Olmert may be a crook, but he's not a murderer. Legal sources close to Olmert expressed fury at the fact that the preliminary testimony was approved on the basis of Talansky's claim.Would Olmert [have someone] commit murder to protect himself?
"The prime minister may be suspected of financial offenses, but he isn't a murderer," they said.
"To present the prime minister as a criminal figure who eliminates witnesses - there are limits to everything. This is a claim that shouldn't have been voiced and shouldn't have come to be. It isn't based on any fact or real suspicion and from the moment it came to be, it just shames whoever claimed it and the State of Israel in general," they continued.
The court ruled that Talansky's testimony would be given in an opening hearing but did not set a date.
Talansky had apparently agreed to testify if and when an indictment were issued against Olmert, but Lador argued that the more time passes, the less forthcoming Talansky would be in testifying, "especially since we are referring to testimony against someone who was a positive acquaintance of his for a number of years."
The state argued it wanted to hear Talansky's testimony without delay, "while he is still influenced by the initial shock of being interrogated as a suspect involved in criminal activities."
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:38 PM
1 Comments:
Its funny to hear Ehud Olmert complain about the ethics of the investigation. One would think that he, of all people, would want to do everything to be expedited so his name can be cleared. Instead, his strategy appears to be to drag it out the government becomes complicit in his own personal drama. That's incredibly selfish. Then again as far Olmert is concerned, the State Of Israel is an extension of him. He might not order Talansky to be knee-capped but he's not in mood either to be completely cooperative with Israel's justice officials who are building the case against him.
Post a Comment
<< Home