TEL AVIV – Just moments ago a court in Tel Aviv convicted former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on an account of bribery he accepted when he was Mayor of Jerusalem.

When relating to the case, Justice David Rosen spoke of a “corrupt political system which has decayed over years… and in which hundreds of thousands of shekels were transferred to elected officials.” The court implied that Olmert lied during his testimony in court.

Olmert received bribes when he was Mayor of Jerusalem in return for the advancement of the Holyand building project, a massive monstrosity of a project which overshadows all of Jerusalem.

10 of the 13 defendants were convicted together with Olmert, including Olmert’s secretary and close confidant Shulah Z|aken who turned on Olmert last week. At the last moment Zaken came forward with new evidence against her former boss. The prosecution requested a two week postponement in order to allow for the investigation to complete and for Zaken to testify against Olmert, but Judge Rosen rejected their request and rendered his verdict today.

Zaken provided the prosecution with a recording in which Olmert allegedly tried to convince her not to sign a state witness deal. The police’s anti-fraud unit is now investigating Olmert, who could be facing charges of obstruction of justice and witness tampering.

Olmert has several other pending court cases against him involving corruption charges.

By Aryeh Savir

Tazpit News Agency