MK Tzachi Hanegbi
צילום: גיל יוחנן
Former Minister Hanegbi indicted
MK indicted on charges including bribery, illegal appointments, perjury, and fraud. Hanegbi: Indictment baseless
An indictment was filed against Kadima MK Tzachi Hanegbi for a number of offenses which include giving briberies, committing perjury, making illegal appointments, and fraud.
The prosecution has demanded that a three-judge panel presides over the trial.
Hanegbi told Ynet in response: "I am happy that finally the legal process, which dragged on and was delayed for years, has finally started. The indictment is baseless. I am convinced that that the hearings will prove that during my tenure in the Ministry for the Environment no action was taken in a way that differs from the norms that have been in place for decades."
The indictment accuses Hanegbi of having appointed Likud cronies to positions in the ministry in a "planned and systematic manner."
Prosecutors say Hanegbi's illegal appointments were politically motivated and accuse the MK of overlooking the public's interest and the principle of equal opportunities adopted by government institutions.
Hanegbi's deeds were exposed in a 2004 report by the State Comptroller's Office which alleged that the Chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee had made dozens of illegal appointments as Minister of the Environment between 2001 and 2003.
The Comptroller's Office launched a probe into appointments made by Hanegbi and his associates after a Ynet report that he had boasted about appointing Likud cronies in his ministry in an internal party memo.
