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Legal Analysis / The shocking depths of corruption By Ze'ev Segal Judge Jacob Zaban's detailed verdict is a difficult and shocking document: It attests to the depths of governmental corruption to which former minister and current MK Shlomo Benizri descended. The verdict convicts Benizri of taking bribes - a crime that previous rulings have defined as the "supreme source of corruption" - and of other serious crimes, whose circumstances are described in detail. And it proclaims the shame of anyone convicted of these acts. The court properly stressed that the crimes of bribe-taking, fraud and breach of trust, especially in the circumstances of this case, constitute corruption of the sort that endangers both society and government: They undermine social stability and cause the public to lose faith in government agencies. Advertisement The judge cited an earlier verdict against another former minister - Aryeh Deri, who was convicted of taking bribes - as an example of the gravity of this offense. But the chain of events unveiled in Benizri's case seems no less grave than the Deri affair. Even Benizri's acquittal on some counts - including one charge of accepting a $200,000 bribe - does nothing to mitigate the severity of the offenses of which he was convicted. The Jerusalem District Court, which convicted Benizri, must now complete the case by sentencing him. The sentencing decision will not only determine his punishment; it will also determine whether he is guilty of moral turpitude. In his verdict, Judge Zaban noted that bribery carries a stiff maximum sentence. The court will decide the turpitude question in accordance with the standard approach that views this as a "moral/ethical" issue. It will take the nature of the crimes and the circumstances in which they were committed into account. But bribery is generally considered a crime that entails turpitude by its nature. So is obstructing justice, of which Benizri was also convicted. The court can address the turpitude issue either on its own initiative or at the request of the attorney general, who will presumably ask the court to determine that Benizri's acts did involve turpitude. Once the sentence is issued, Benizri can appeal both the verdict and the sentence within 45 days. According to a recently enacted amendment to the Basic Law on the Knesset, even a magistrate court's finding that an offense involved turpitude is sufficient to mandate a Knesset member's automatic suspension. In the past, the Knesset House Committee had the discretion to decide whether to suspend an MK as long as the verdict was not final, meaning until the last possible appeal had been rejected. Should Benizri be suspended, the next person on his party's list will temporarily replace him. And if an MK is convicted of an offense involving moral turpitude in a final verdict, he automatically loses his Knesset seat. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Dude, we're aiding terror A new anti-drug campaign equates smoking pot with terrorism. Bad company A BBC poll says Israel world's most hated country after Iran.

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