A three judge panel will hear the case against the former foreign minister in the Jerusalem Magistrates Court.
The trial of MK Avigdor Liberman (Likud-Beytenu) in the ambassador to Belarus case, will open in three weeks in the Jerusalem Magistrates Court. The case will be heard by a panel of three judges, Jerusalem Magistrates Court President Judge Shulamit Dotan announced today. She delayed the decision on the date of the trial and panel of judges until after the elections, even though the indictment was filed a month ago, for reasons that are still unknown.
Judge Hagit Kalmanovitch will head the panel of judges alongside Judge Yitzhak Shimoni and Judget Eitan Kornhawser.
Liberman is charged with fraud and breach of trust. After the indictment is read out, he will file a statement of defense. If he denies the charges, the evidentiary stage will be held, in which the witness for the prosecution will first testify. Liberman is accused of, while serving as foreign minister, seeking to promote the appointment of Zeev Ben-Arie as ambassador to Latvia, even though Ben-Arie, in his previous post as Ambassador to Belarus, leaked to Liberman details of an investigation document sent to the Belaus authorities as part of an Israel Police investigation into Liberman in the front companies affair.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 28, 2013
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