Sunday, August 2, 2009

Police Recommend Indicting Lieberman on Bribery;FM: There is no basis for the police decision

(Bloomberg) -- The Israel Police have recommended that Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman be charged with fraud, bribery, money laundering, obstruction of justice and breach of trust.

The recommendation was made to the State Prosecutors Office and Attorney General Menachem Mazuz, the police said in an e- mailed statement. Mazuz and the state prosecutor will decide whether to indict Lieberman.

Lieberman released a statement in response to the police announcement, saying there were no grounds for the indictment and that he was the victim of persecution.

"For 13 years the police have conducted a campaign of persecution against me," the foreign minister said. "As much as my political strength and the strength of Yisrael Beiteinu rise, the campaign of persecution also intensifies."

He said police had no real reason for launching an investigation against him, and that if the suspicions had been proven true, the investigation would not have lasted for over a decade.

"Only an appeal to the High Court, which demanded a halt to the judicial torture of me and my family, obliged the police to conclude the investigation," he said.