Two days after former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was sentenced in the Holyland trial, his former bureau chief, Shula Zaken, will hear her fate on Thursday.
Zaken’s sentencing hearing will be held at the Tel Aviv District Court on Thursday morning and it is believed that shortly after hearing the prosecution and Zaken's attorneys, Judge David Rosen will announce her sentence.
Zaken’s sentencing is being held separately than that of the other defendants in the trial because she turned state’s evidence against Olmert and signed a plea bargain with the prosecution days before the judge announced his verdict in the trial.
As part of the plea bargain, in exchange for Zaken turning state’s evidence she will serve a reduced 11-month prison sentence and the prosecution will cancel the appeals against her in the Talansky affair and the Rishon Tours affair.
However, Judge Rosen is not obligated to accept the plea bargain and, in fact, made clear when he delivered the verdict that he would request serious arguments before approving the deal made with Zaken.
In other words, both sides will have to prove to Judge Rosen that Zaken provided substantial enough material against Olmert.
On Tuesday morning, Rosen sentenced Olmert to six years in jail and two more years' suspended sentence. He also used harsh language in describing the offences in which the former premier was convicted, describing them as a “malignant disease” that “must be rooted out.”
"Bribery offenses contaminate the public sector; bribery causes the structure of government to collapse,” said the judge. He used the word “traitor” to describe a public official who takes bribes.