Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday lashed out at the country’s justice system, rejecting the charges against him as “ludicrous”, as his long-awaited corruption trial got underway, making him the first sitting premier of the country to go on trial for corruption.
Netanyahu, the country’s longest serving prime minister, appeared at the opening hearing at a Jerusalem court to face charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, days after he returned to power following months of political deadlock.
The 70-year-old Israeli leader is accused of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three different cases, dubbed Case 1000 (fraud and breach of trust), Case 2000 (fraud and breach of trust) and Case 4000 (bribery, fraud and breach of trust).
It is the first time in the country’s history that a sitting prime minister is facing a criminal trial. Speaking to the media before entering the Jerusalem District Court, Prime Minister Netanyahu told reporters the investigations against him “were tainted from day one,” and called the three indictments against him “ludicrous,” the hareetz.com reported Netanyahu told the panel of judges that he has read and understands the three indictments against him.
Netanyahu’s lawyer Micha Fettman listed in the court the incomplete and late arrival of the evidence against the prime minister. Fettman said it will take the defence team at least “two or three months” to make any preliminary requests to the court as “I am blessed to be ignorant” of the full extent of the charges, the news portal reported.
The prime minister’s legal team asked the court for a six-month delay to fully study the charges. Netanyahu has denied all the charges, claiming that he is the victim of an “attempted coup by overaggressive police, biased prosecutors and a hostile media”. (PTI)
