Last update - 00:00 27/02/2008
Omri Sharon begins 7-month prison term for fraud
By Jonathan Lis, Haaretz Correspondent
Omri Sharon, a former Knesset member and the son of former prime minister Ariel Sharon, on Wednesday began serving a seven-month prison term for fraud related to his father's 1999 Likud primary campaign.
Right-wing activists Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben-Gvir shouted insults at Sharon outside of the Tel Aviv courthouse where final proceedings took place, for what they called his part in the "annihilation of Jewish life" in the Gaza Strip settlements during the 2005 Disengagement from Gaza.
After court proceedings came to a close, Prisons Service officials loaded Sharon into a police van together with other inmates for his drive to Maasiyahu prison, a minimum security facility near Ramle. During his stay, he is expected to work as a teacher for other inmates.
In 2006, Sharon was convicted of violating campaign finance laws, falsifying corporate documents and perjury. He was fined NIS 300,000 and sentenced to nine months in jail, which was later reduced to seven months.
Prisons Service sources denied rumors of a deal reached with Sharon that would allow him to visit his father, who has been comatose since suffering a stroke early in 2006.
They said prisoners with ailing family members are often granted hospital visitation rights, but such permission is given only after the inmate has been incarcerated, and the request to do so has been reviewed by a committee.
Incidentally, Wednesday also marked the comatose former prime minister's 80th birthday.
Related articles: