The editor in chief of the Israeli daily Ma’ariv and its chief of security have been indicted formally by Israel’s High Court of Justice on charges that included illegal wiretapping and interfering with a police investigation.
A date for the hearings of Editor Ofer Nimrodi and Security Chief David Ronen will be determined after the court’s summer recess.
According to the charge sheet, Nimrodi hired private detectives Rafi Friedan and Ya’acov Tsur to wiretap the phones and fax machines of senior editorial executives at the competing newspaper, Yediot Achronot.
Allegations surfaced last year the senior executive from both Ma’ariv and Yediot Achronot had been involved in the illegal wiretapping of the offices of each other and of other journalists as well those of public and political figures.
Nimrodi was also charged with subsequently ordering wiretaps on the phones of his own employees at Ma’ariv.
Nimrodi and Ronen were also charged with trying to interfere with the investigation by allegedly attempting to bribe Fridean and Tsur to keep quiet about who hired them.
The charges against Nimrodi and Ronen came after the two private investigators decided to cooperate with the government.
Charges of conducting illegal wiretaps are also being prepared against Moshe Vardi, the editor of Yediot Achronot.
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