PM to petition High Court against Talansky's early testimony
Dan Izenberg , THE JERUSALEM POST May. 10, 2008
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The lawyers representing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his aide, Shula
Zaken, are due on Sunday to ask the Supreme Court for permission to appeal
against a Jerusalem District Court decision granting the state's request to
question Morris Talansky, Zaken's lawyer, Micha Fetman, told The Jerusalem
Post on Saturday.

Talansky, an American Jew who was paid for raising donations for Israeli
non-profit institutions, is suspected of giving to or collecting large sums
of money for Olmert over 15 years.

The Jerusalem District Court decision to allow state prosecutors to examine
Talansky and the suspects' lawyers, Eli Zohar and Fetman, to cross-examine
him, was handed down on Friday.

A panel of three judges, including court president Moussia Arad and judges
Zvi Zylbertal and Moshe Sobel, accepted the state's argument that Talansky
would likely not return to testify at Olmert's trial should Attorney-General
Menahem Mazuz decide to indict the prime minister. The judges also said
Talansky himself might turn out to be a defendant rather than a witness in
such a trial.

"When we are talking about a witness who is to give testimony in a criminal
trial against a person with whom he had a positive relationship for 15
years, the desire to avoid the unpleasantness involved in coming to Israel
for that purpose is [strong]," the court wrote.

"Furthermore, when it comes to giving testimony regarding illegal activities
in which the witness himself is allegedly involved, it is not unreasonable
to assume that he will avoid coming to Israel both because no one is happy
about describing his part in illegal activities and also out of fear that he
himself will be indicted."

At the same time, the court rejected the state's request to hold the hearing
behind closed doors, writing that the public's right to know and freedom of
the press overrode all other considerations in this matter. In its decision,
the court did not set a date for Talansky's hearing but said it would let
the sides know "soon."

Should the Supreme Court reject their request to appeal against the lower
court's decision, or reject the appeal itself, Zohar and Fetman will demand
to see all of the evidence gathered by police so far - not only the evidence
gleaned from the questioning of Talansky.

Police have also questioned Zaken and Olmert's close friend and one-time law
partner, Uri Messer. According to media reports, Messer's testimony to
police may have been damaging to Olmert, and there has even been speculation
that Olmert's friend of 30 years will turn state's witness against him.

During his Thursday night address to the nation following the partial
lifting of the publication ban on information regarding the investigation
against him, Olmert said he had relied on Messer, who was his personal
attorney, to make sure the money he received from or via Talansky was
handled legally. Political observers interpreted the comment to indicate
that the two friends had turned against each other.

Meanwhile, a Justice Ministry spokesman said Saturday night that at this
point in time, the state did not intend to take legal action to try and
overturn the Jerusalem District Court decision to hold the questioning of
Talansky behind closed doors. Channel 10 News reported Saturday night that
if the questioning is held in public, the police will question Olmert a
second time before it takes place.