Last update - 00:00 13/06/2007
State Prosecutor: Insinuation we 'framed' public figures is a lie
By Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz Correspondent
State Prosecutor Eran Shendar harshly criticized Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann Wednesday for insinuating that the State Prosecutor's Office incriminated public figures.
"Comments such as these are devoid of any realistic justification," Shendar said of Friedmann's insinuation in Jerusalem at a conference of the Movement for Quality Government in Israel. "There is nothing farther from the truth than this, and whoever claims otherwise, knows he is lying," Shendar added.
At the beginning of this week, Friedmann said on Channel Two's "Meet the Press" that "there is a possibility that some will try to harm me because of my stance."
Asked whether he is worried about being "framed," Friedmann replied: "That is a very remote possibility, but it is certainly possible they will try to get me in other ways. Vague threats are in the air. One possibility is that the attorney general and Justice Ministry staffers will go to the press with criticism against me, a phenomenon that does not exist anywhere else in the world," he said
Some time earlier, Friedmann had said "The attorney general put the previous justice minister on trial. So far he hasn't done more than criticize me, so I consider myself lucky."
Shendar did not specifically mention Friedmann's name, but said "anyone who tries to etch in the public's consciousness the possibility - as slight as it may be ? that the State Prosecutor's Office is 'framing' people, contributes to the erosion of the public's faith in the law enforcement establishment and brings about a weakening of the justice system."
According to Shendar, as long as the State Prosecutor's office will continue to combat corruption, as the office intends, "the voices of those claiming that the battle is motivated by immoral considerations will only grow stronger. These comments are aimed at waging a public battle against the law enforcement agencies in order to weaken them, by destroying the public's faith in their ability to enforce the law."
"This battle [against the law enforcement establishment] comes at a carefully planned time and with the backing of public relations figures and figures representing other interests," Shendar said. "We must remember that there are those who benefit from the weakening of the system, and that will one day be able to spread a feeling of contempt and dismissal against the establishment regarding its decisions censuring them."
Shendar also criticized Friedmann's initiative to alter the method of selecting a new state prosecutor. "The new state prosecutor will be called to investigate, and perhaps prosecute the prime minister, and therefore the selection of a prosecutor by the government out of three possible candidates appears unhealthy," Shendar said of the initiative to take the selection process out of the hands of a committee headed by a retired Supreme Court justice and into the hands of the government.
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