Fighting Back: Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's attorneys intend to petition the High Court of Justice in the coming days in a bid to annul a previous decision by the Jerusalem District Court that allowed officials to take the deposition of fundraiser Morris Talansky.
Olmert's attorneys believe that allowing Talansky to testify at this stage would undermine the possibility of holding a fair investigation into suspicions that the prime minister received funds unlawfully.
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Olmert defense team's decision comes after the Jerusalem District Court granted Friday Attorney General Menachem Mazuz's request to take a deposition from Talansky, an American businessman believed to have transferred funds to Olmert during the latter's tenure as Jerusalem mayor and as industry, trade and labor minister.
State Prosecutor Moshe Lador told the court that Talansky "has expressed his concern to a police officer that Olmert might send someone to hurt him."
The court noted that "while the state prosecutor stressed that it is inconceivable to attribute to any of the respondents the intent to influence the witness or deter him from testifying, given the subjective feeling of the witness, there's a concern that this might dissuade him from testifying."
Roni Sofer contributed to the report
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