Former Jerusalem mayoral candidate Arkadi Gaydamak was sentenced in absentia by a French court on Tuesday to six years in prison. The Russian-Israeli business tycoon was convicted on charges of bribery, tax evasion, fraud and embezzelement in a case that involved the sale of $790 million in illegal arms to the government of Angola during the country's civil war, which ended in 2002. At least half a million people were wounded in the African conflict, and millions were left homeless. Allegedly Gaydamak and his partner, French arms dealer Pierre Falcone, who was also sentenced to six years in prison by the Paris court, received rights to drill for oil in exchange for making weapons deals and connections with politicians.
The scandal, which first broke in 2000, has resulted in the trials of 42 prominent politicians, business owners and other French personalities of note, including former French Interior Minister Charles Pasque and the son of late French President Francois Mitterand, Jean-Christophe Mitterand.