The haredi former mayor of Jerusalem, Uri Lupolianski, has been sentenced to six years in prison and a 500,000 shekel ($145,000) fine for his role in Holyland bribery and public corruption scandal.
Above: Uri Lupolianski
Haredi Ex-Jerusalem Mayor Sentenced To 6 Years In prison In Bribery Scandal
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
The haredi former mayor of Jerusalem, Uri Lupolianski, has been sentenced to six years in prison and a 500,000 shekel ($145,000) fine for his role in Holyland bribery and public corruption scandal, Ha’aretz reported.
Lupolianski was sentenced by the Tel Aviv District Court earlier today for accepting more than 2 million shekels (about $570,000) in bribes he had real estate developers funnel through Yad Sarah, the medical device charity he started.
Lupolianski, who is being treated for cancer, will serve his sentence at a medical facility or at a prison, depending on his health and his need for regular treatments.
He will reportedly begin serving his sentence on September 1.
Meanwhile, another haredi politician, former Jerusalem city council member Avraham Feiner, will serve six months of community service and pay a 250,000 shekel fine for his role in the bribery scandal.
He got his very lenient sentence due to an illness, and will work of six hours a day at Hadassah Hospital on Jerusalem’s Mount Scopus, reportedly for six months beginning on August 6. Finer’s fine was only 25% of what prosecutors asked for.
Nonetheless, the judge noted that if Feiner was not seriously ill, he would have sentenced him to at least five years in prison. The judge also noted that because Finer’s lenient sentence was part of a plea deal between Feiner and the prosecution, the sentence in no way serves as a precedent for other defendants in other cases.
Finer and Lupolianski are the only haredim caught up in the Holyland scandal. So far, several other politicians, including former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, have been convicted of bribe-taking in it.