Police have obtained a state witness in the rape investigation against Kiryat
Malachi Mayor Moti Malka, it emerged on Sunday.
Malka is suspected of
major fraud and repeatedly raping a woman who worked at his municipality, though
he says sexual relations were held with consent and denies the
suspicions.
The police’s National Economic Crimes Unit succeeded in
getting a witness to sign a deal with the state, though a media ban forbids
identifying the source in any way.
Meanwhile, attorney Zion Amir
announced that he would no longer be representing Malka in the case because of a
conflict of interests.
In 2011, the female complainant in the Malka
investigation asked Amir to represent her and gave him a letter with details of
her allegations.
Last week, the Israel Bar Association’s Ethics Committee
authorized Amir to represent Malka, after he told them he had not read the
complainant’s letter. However, Amir announced on Sunday that he had decided,
after considering the matter, to refrain from representing Malka.
Malka
is suspected of repeatedly raping, sodomizing and sexually abusing the employee,
allegedly carrying out the acts in an apartment made available to him by a
contractor as a bribe. Police suspect that one of Malka’s deputies was also
involved in an incident of rape.
Police suspect that on one occasion,
Malka called his deputy to the scene, and the two raped the woman one after the
other.
Joanna Paraszczuk contributed to this report.
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