Hundreds more witnesses are due to testify in the Holyland investigation, prosecutor representative Adv. Liat Ben-Ari told the Supreme Court in the hearing on an appeal filed by some of the suspects against their continuing remand.
"During the open investigation's 12 days, countless numbers of investigative actions have been conducted and an impressive amount of testimony has been gathered, which consolidate the suspicions attributed to the arrested persons. The fact that this is a complicated investigation, makes the police work much more difficult. This is a case that it would be no exaggeration to say that hundreds more witnesses still have to be questioned. Every day, we see a long line of witnesses arriving at the investigation unit for questioning," Ben-Ari said.
Meanwhile, former Jerusalem mayor Uri Lupolianski was released today for ten days under close house arrest, partly for health reasons. He was arrested last Wednesday. He is forbidden to leave the country, and will only be allowed to leave his home in Jerusalem for medical tests. He is forbidden to contact the Jerusalem Municipality or the Yad Sarah charity, which he founded, as he is suspected of using the charity for channeling bribes collected from the Holyland project's developers.
The police also agreed to release to house arrest Eliyahu Hasson CPA, who is suspected of paying a bribe. Adv. Uri Messer was released to house arrest on Friday, after spending over a week in jail. He is under close house arrest at his home in Caesarea, and may not speak with any person except for family members and his attorneys. He must deposit NIS 400,000 in bail, and is banned from leaving Israel for six months.
Rishon LeZion Magistrates Court Judge Avaraham Heiman today extended the remand of former Jerusalem deputy mayor Eliezer Shamhiof of Shas for eight days, through Thursday. "The situation is one of government corruption," said Heiman in his decision. "It would be no exaggeration to say that a gang of greedy people apparently conspired to steal the public's property, for which they were responsible as public officials."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 18, 2010
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