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Top policeman slams minister's plan to shorten statute of limitations By Jonathan Lis and Tomer Zarchin, Haaretz Correspondents Tags: police, Israel  Major General Yohanan Danino, the head of the police investigations and intelligence division, on Tuesday lashed out publicly against the initiative of Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann and Public Security Minister Avi Dichter to shorten the statute of limitations in cases of fraud and breach of faith. "There is no doubt that the passing of such a bill in its present form will seriously impair the ability of the law enforcement system, particularly the police, to deal with this phenomenon and to create deterence," Danino said. "It is precisely these offenses that are discovered after time has passed, among other reasons because complaints are filed a long time after the offense has been committed." Danino also said investigations and intelligence gathering in these cases can be lengthy and complicated. Advertisement According to the bill, the statute of limitations would be accorded to various offense from the moment they were committed, rather than from the end of the last act of investigation in a case, as is now the case. Danino said Friedmann had formulated the bill "based on frequent changes of various and sundry versions of the bill, which were not preceded by expert or deep discussion as required." Most offenses in this category will have a statute of limitations from five to seven and a half years. The ministers reportedly want the bill in order to expedite police investigations and the issuing of indictments. However the national fraud squad says there is almost no footdragging in these cases. One of the longest-running investigations is that against former prime minister Ariel Sharon's sons in the Cyril Kern affair, which is still underway due to delays in investigations taking place abroad. Another case still under investigation is that against MK Avigdor Lieberman, which was renewed after the police received a number of documents a few months ago. The fraud squad says that 30 of the 88 cases under investigation would be forced to close the minute the new law passes, among them the Cyril Kern affair and the Lieberman investigation. Danino also said the investigations division has been working in recent months toward formulating investigation rules that would set clear time limits for criminal investigations, but that Justice Ministry had hurriedly moved ahead on an opposing bill. Dichter said on Tuesday that he had decided to extend the statute of limitations on fraud, breach of trust and other serious offenses from Friedmann's proposed five years to eight as a compromise. Public Security Ministry legal advisor Yoel Hadar told Haaretz that the police and Dichter were divided on the issue, that Dichter had a wider public view and was "not the mouthpiece of the police." Friedmann's bureau responded by noting that the statute of limitations for he most serious corruption offenses can be as long as 13 years, and this should be enough time, if not too much time, for the police to investigate. This period of time might be longer in investigations that extend abroad or if the suspect is abroad. The minister also agreed to extend the statute of limitations on a number of lesser corruption offenses, including forgery and most cases of fraud, including election fraud, to the statute for more serious offenses. Friedmann's bureau also said the police's willingness to let investigations go on endlessly was worrisome with regard to the police attitude toward suspects' rights. Related articles: Friedmann's weak reasoning Friedmann's norms Ehud Barak's justice minister 'Attack the court, save the country' Bookmark to del.icio.us   Best served cold Safed chief rabbi calls on state to exact 'revenge' against Arabs. The Jewish hurdle Obama: I disagree with aide who blamed 'NY, Miami' for failed peace talks.   1.   Friedman, minister of non-justice 20:46  |  Eli 26/03/08

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