Supreme Court Chief Justice Aharon Barak announced today that Aryeh Deri would not receive a new trial. The decision brings to a close a 13-year-old saga, involving a young Torah student who rose meteorically to national prominence as leader of the Sephardic-hareidi Shas Party, but who found himself convicted on bribery charges and serving most of a three-year a jail sentence. The sentence was originally four years, but was reduced following his appeal. Deri continues to protest his innocence, and in fact his supporters say that it was precisely his meteoric rise that led "the establishment" to find a way to neutralize him.
Deri demanded a new trial based on the claim that the main prosecution witness, a man named Shmulevitz, had a hidden criminal record and actually lied on the witness stand. The Court ruled, however, that the conviction did not rest totally on Shmulevitz's testimony, and that there was no justification for another trial. A month from now, the verdict in Deri's public trial - charges that he funneled money to Shas while serving as Interior Minister - will be handed down.