Liberman set to deny all charges as trial kicks off

The trial of Yisrael Beytenu leader and former foreign minister Avigdor Liberman will start on Sunday in a dramatic case that will determine his political fate and will likely go down in history alongside the cases of former prime minister Ehud Olmert and former president Moshe Katsav.

After months of speculation about a possible plea bargain agreement, Liberman is expected to plead not guilty and deny all the charges against him.

If Liberman is convicted and his action are found to constitute moral turpitude he will have to resign from the Knesset and be out of politics for a minimum of seven years, drastically sidelining and possibly ending the political career of a man who is not much more than a heartbeat from the post of prime minister.

On January 27, Jerusalem District Court President Shlomit Dotan announced the date of the first hearing and that three judges will hear the case instead of the one required by law, following a request by Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein due to the “public interest” relating to the matter.

in full: http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=303443