Israel's Olmert says he is victim of 'witch-hunt'

JERUSALEM: Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert appeared in court on Tuesday to answer charges of corruption, claiming he is the victim of a witch-hunt.

Speaking to reporters just before the hearing in a Jerusalem court, Olmert said "a brutal, ruthless witch-hunt, the likes of which have never before been seen in Israel," was being waged against him.

"I have never been offered and I never have accepted bribes," he added.

Olmert is on trial on charges of unlawfully accepting gifts of cash-stuffed envelopes, multiple billing of foreign trips and influence-peddling.

In December, Olmert pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Prosecutors are now considering filing additional charges in connection with a spiralling real estate scandal in which several suspects allegedly received bribes to smooth the way for construction of Jerusalem‘s grandiose Holyland residential complex in the 1990s.

All the charges relate to a period before Olmert became premier. Olmert was mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003 and then served as trade and industry minister.