BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

02/03/2010

Israeli police quiz FM over possible obstruction of justice

AFP - Israeli police interrogated Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Tuesday over suspicion of obstructing justice, a state prosecutor said.

"Mr Lieberman has been questioned by police, who suspect him of obstructing justice," Moshe Lador told Israel public television.

According to the broadcaster, Israeli ambassador to Belarus Zeev Ben Arieh gave Lieberman, when he visited Minsk in 2008, a photocopy of a document relative to an investigation into the activities of the foreign minister.

The report said that in the document, which Ben Arieh should normally have delivered unopened to the Belarus justice ministry, the Israeli justice ministry was requesting verification of bank account details and the questioning of certain persons in that country.

Thus, it said, Lieberman would have been tipped off about questions that might have been put to him in the course of a corruption investigation against him.

Last August, Israeli police recommended indicting the controversial minister on charges of bribery, money laundering and obstruction of justice.

Lieberman, who leads Yisrael Beitenu, the second largest party in the ruling coalition, has denied any wrongdoing and claimed the police investigation is politically motivated.

He is suspected of receiving about 2.5 million dollars in illegal campaign donations through bank accounts opened by his daughter in Cyprus.

Lieberman has faced several investigations since 1996, none of which came to anything.

The minister, who claims he is being harassed by police, has said he will resign if he is charged.

Israel's new chief prosecutor, Yehuda Weinstein, who was appointed in December, has not yet announced any decision on whether to proceed with an indictment.

Source:

http://www.france24.com/en/20100302-israeli-police-quiz-fm-over-possible-obstruction-justice


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