Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was set to be questioned yesterday for a second time in three weeks in the latest corruption probe against him, which has stirred calls for his resignation.
Anti-fraud squad officers were due to begin questioning him at 10am.
Police are seeking to establish whether Olmert dispensed any favors in exchange for allegedly illegal funds he received from millionaire US financier Morris Talansky during the 13 years before he became prime minister in 2006.
PHOTO: AP
The state prosecutor believes Olmert received US$100,000 in cash from Talansky, and police are looking at money transfers that could have been used to finance private trips when Olmert was mayor of Jerusalem and then trade and industry minister.
The prime minister has denied any wrongdoing but admitted he received money from Talansky to help finance his election campaigns in 1999 and 2003.
“I have never taken a bribe, nor have I unlawfully pocketed money,” he told a news conference earlier this month, denouncing what he called a “hysterical” campaign against him.
Olmert was first questioned in the case on May 2, and state prosecutors plan to have Talansky testify under oath before a judge tomorrow.
Police are looking into allegations that while he was industry and trade minister, Olmert contacted an Israeli diplomat in a Latin American country asking him to promote a technological project in which Talansky was a partner, the Maariv daily reported yesterday.
He also is alleged to have promoted the sale to hotels of minibars produced by a Talansky factory.
The prime minister’s political opponents say he should resign, or at least step down pending the outcome of the investigation — the fifth to be conducted against him since he took office.
Palestinian officials have expressed fears that the affair could affect the Middle East peace process.
Even Olmert’s closest political allies have raised the possibility of elections later this year, about 12 months ahead of schedule.
Opinion polls have shown that a majority of Israelis believe Olmert should step down, and he has said he would quit if charges were pressed against him.
Olmert is the subject of three more probes into suspected corruption involving potential conflicts of interest, fraudulent property transactions and abuse of power in connection with political appointments.
Polish presidential candidates offered different visions of Poland and its relations with Ukraine in a televised debate ahead of next week’s run-off, which remains on a knife-edge. During a head-to-head debate lasting two hours, centrist Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s governing pro-European coalition, faced the Eurosceptic historian Karol Nawrocki, backed by the right-wing populist Law and Justice party (PiS). The two candidates, who qualified for the second round after coming in the top two places in the first vote on Sunday last week, clashed over Poland’s relations with Ukraine, EU policy and the track records of their
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
‘A THREAT’: Guyanese President Irfan Ali called on Venezuela to follow international court rulings over the region, whose border Guyana says was ratified back in 1899 Misael Zapara said he would vote in Venezuela’s first elections yesterday for the territory of Essequibo, despite living more than 100km away from the oil-rich Guyana-administered region. Both countries lay claim to Essequibo, which makes up two-thirds of Guyana’s territory and is home to 125,000 of its 800,000 citizens. Guyana has administered the region for decades. The centuries-old dispute has intensified since ExxonMobil discovered massive offshore oil deposits a decade ago, giving Guyana the largest crude oil reserves per capita in the world. Venezuela would elect a governor, eight National Assembly deputies and regional councilors in a newly created constituency for the 160,000
North Korea has detained another official over last week’s failed launch of a warship, which damaged the naval destroyer, state media reported yesterday. Pyongyang announced “a serious accident” at Wednesday last week’s launch ceremony, which crushed sections of the bottom of the new destroyer. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called the mishap a “criminal act caused by absolute carelessness.” Ri Hyong-son, vice department director of the Munitions Industry Department of the Party Central Committee, was summoned and detained on Sunday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. He was “greatly responsible for the occurrence of the serious accident,” it said. Ri is the fourth person
RSS