Omri Sharon in court yesterday: 'For this purpose, [Omri] viewed all means as justified, whether legal or criminal,' said the judge. Sharon's lawyers say they will appeal. (AP)
The Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court yesterday sentenced former MK Omri Sharon to nine months in prison plus a NIS 300,000 fine for raising illegal campaign contributions for his father, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
His friend Gabi Manor, who was convicted along with him, received a nine-month suspended sentence and a NIS 50,000 fine.
The stiff sentence surprised prosecutors and defense attorneys alike, and the latter immediately said that they plan to appeal it. To give them time to do so, and even more because of the elder Sharon's serious medical condition, Judge Edna Bekenstein deferred implementation of the sentence until September 1.
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Omri and Manor were convicted in a plea bargain of illegally raising NIS 6 million for Ariel Sharon's 1999 campaign for the Likud Party leadership. In her verdict, Bekenstein said that this effectively constituted buying power.
"The goal was to raise huge amounts of money," she wrote. "For this purpose, [Omri] viewed all means as justified, whether legal or criminal ... as long as his father was elected to the desired position."
Omri, she continued, had no hesitations about involving anyone and everyone in his acts of fraud, "even causing his father to sign a false affidavit."
Bekenstein rejected the defense's argument that the campaign finance laws impose impossible restrictions, saying that if this were really so, "I wonder why later, when the defendant was elected a Knesset member, he did not immediately do something to change them."
She also rejected the argument that many politicians do the same. "Recently, we have heard over and over about the 'political swamp,'" she wrote. "This swamp must be dried out. The courts' role in drying it up is through suitable sentences."
Bekenstein said that she admired Omri's loyalty to his father, but this did not justify breaking the law. She also expressed sympathy for his father's medical condition, but said that this did not justify reducing his sentence.
Senior legal sources, however, said that had it not been for the prime minister's condition, the sentence might well have been even stiffer.
Since Omri has resigned from the Knesset and is not running for reelection, Bekenstein declined to rule on whether his crime involved moral turpitude, which would affect his ability to serve as an MK.
After the hearing, Omri refused to comment. But defense attorney Navit Negev charged that the sentence was "radically harsher" than previous sentences for similar crimes.
Prosecutors, however, were delighted, having expected that Omri would receive only a fine or community service. The sentence "is a clear warning light to public officials and the public in general that the law enforcement agencies and the courts will not be forgiving toward crimes that impair the fairness of electoral processes," said Attorney General Menachem Mazuz and State Prosecutor Eran Shendar in a press statement. "We will not permit the corruption of democratic processes."
Many MKs were also pleased. "Sharon received a harsh sentence, but given the existing circumstances - the need to fight corruption - this was a justified sentence, and a deterrent for corrupt public figures," said Knesset Constitution Committee Chair Michael Eitan (Likud). MK Ran Cohen (Meretz) also termed the sentence "appropriate."
Many Kadima MKs, in contrast, were furious, though they declined to comment publicly. "Omri is not a member of Kadima and not a candidate on its behalf for any position, so this has nothing to do with Kadima," insisted one senior party member.
But many MKs rejected that argument. "Omri Sharon was one of Kadima's founders and its operations officer," said Shelly Yachimovich (Labor).
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