以色列前總理即將入獄
Israel's Supreme Court Tuesday partially overturned a bribery conviction against former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. His sentence was reduced from six years to 18 months in prison.
Olmert expressed relief, saying a great burden has been lifted from his heart.
The ex-prime minister, who is 70, was convicted two years ago by a lower court of accepting tens of thousands of dollars in bribes to promote a controversial real-estate project in Jerusalem. This allegedly occurred when he served as the mayor of Jerusalem, prior to becoming prime minister in 2006.
Olmert denies it.
He says, “I was never offered and I never took a bribe.”
Nevertheless, while the Supreme Court overturned some of the bribery charges, it upheld others. Therefore, Olmert will become the first former Israeli leader to spend time behind bars.
State Prosecutor Liat Ben Ari says justice was served.
She says “the case represents a watershed in the war against corruption in Israel.” The justice system, Ben Ari says, has sent a strong message that “no one is above the law.”以色列最高法院星期二部分推翻了對以色列前總理奧爾默特貪污受賄的指控，並將他的刑期從6年降至18個月。
奧爾默特對此表示欣慰，並表示他的心頭卸下了一副沉重的負擔。
現年70歲的前總理奧爾默特兩年前被一家下級法院判定收受賄賂的罪名成立。他被指控受賄數萬美元，支持耶路撒冷一處有爭議的房地產工程項目。他當時還是耶路撒冷市的市長，是在2006年擔任總理之前。
奧爾默特對這一指控表示否認。
他說，“從來沒有人要賄賂我，我也從來沒有接受過賄賂。”
雖然以色列最高法院部分推翻了對他的受賄指控，但也維持了其他一些指控。因此，奧爾默特將成爲以色列第一位入獄的前總理。
以色列國家檢察官本阿里說，正義得到了伸張。她說，“這一案件成爲以色列反腐敗戰爭的分水嶺。”她說，以色列司法制度發出了一個強烈的信號-- “沒有人可以超越法律。”
