Attorney General Yitzhak Zamir confirmed today that he intends to prosecute MK Samuel Flatto-Sharon for abuses of the election law during his campaign for the Knesset in 1977. Two of his aides, Jacques Ben-Odis and Yaacov Halfon, will also be charged.
The charges culminate a two-year investigation of allegations that the former French millionaire, wanted in France for tax evasion and fraud, literally bought votes to secure a seat in the Knesset. His election came as a surprise second only to the Likud victory in 1977. Zamir said he would ask the Knesset House Committee to waive Flatto’s immunity so that he can stand trial. The committee is empowered to do so in cases where criminal charges are brought against a member.
Flatto said today that the decision to press charges was a surrender to the lyach atmosphere created by his enemies. He said he would not resign from the Knesset unless a court found him guilty. His aides claim they only paid election workers for activity on Flatto’s behalf, something all candidates do. According to Ben-Odis “the whole thing is a joke of the year.”
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