Olmert: Allegations preposterous

Former prime minister testifies again, slams prosecution's methods as 'pathetic, ongoing effort to force circumstances into a timeframe which suits their concept'

Aviad Glickman|Published: 06.21.11 , 13:29

Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert took the stand again at the Jerusalem District Court Tuesday in the ongoing case against him.

The testimony focused on the allegations that Attorney Uri Messer kept a secret safe for Olmert, where the cash payments allegedly received from American businessman Morris Talansky were kept.

"This allegation is preposterous," Olmert told the court.

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"I absolutely reject this allegation. There was no secret safe at Messer's." The former prime minister protested before the court about the prosecution's use of the term "secret," calling it "intolerable," and "insinuating of a conspiracy, of corruption. I unequivocally deny it."

The prosecution's method, he continued, "is part of a pathetic, ongoing effort to force the circumstances into a timeframe which suits their concept. I was raising funds, Messer was managing the fund and that's it. There was no conspiracy. Nothing of a sort."

Messer, Olmert told the court, was holding the funds in trust: "Personally, I was surprised to find out there was a safe involved, but there is nothing wrong about keeping money in a safe. What I resent is labeling it 'secret.'

"This description of keeping things in a secret safe suggests corruption and a conspiracy between Messer and me, and that's intolerable."