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Ex-Jerusalem mayor jailed over corruption

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AFP Jerusalem
An Israeli court sentenced former Jerusalem mayor Uri Lupolianski today to six years in prison for his part in a corruption scandal involving ex-premier Ehud Olmert.

The sentence was handed down at Tel Aviv District Court, media reports said.

Lupolianski, mayor between 2003 and 2008, was convicted in March of accepting bribes worth USD 580,000 from promoters of Jerusalem's massive Holyland residential complex.

The towering construction project, which dominates the city's skyline, is seen as a major blot on the landscape and widely reviled as a symbol of high-level corruption.

Last month, the same court sentenced Olmert to six years jail for accepting bribes, making him the most senior politician in the country's history to face prison for corruption.
 

He was also fined one million shekels for taking bribes in connection with the Holyland project when he himself served as Jerusalem mayor.

Lupolianski was also convicted in March, but his sentence was pushed back due to ill health, reports said.

Olmert has appealed to the Supreme Court, with Lupolianski also pledging to lodge an appeal, media reports said.

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First Published: Jun 19 2014 | 6:01 PM IST

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