State prosecutors requested from the court to order the arrest of former Beitar Jerusalem owner and Jerusalem mayoral candidate Arkadi Gaydamak Thursday if he does not come up with a three million dollar bond as part of a deal guaranteeing his appearance in court. About a month ago Gaydamak promised to appear for a court interview but claimed that he was being persecuted by police and prosecutors, and never showed.Gaydamak is charged with laundering over NIS 650 million In 2009, Gaydamak was convicted by a French court of organizing in arms trafficking in during the civil war in 1993-1998 in the amount of 790 million dollars. He was sentenced in absentia to six years in prison. He is currently in , which has no extradition agreement with . He was tried in absentia in , found guilty and sentenced to six years in prison. had attempted unsuccessfully to extradite Gaydamak from , although Israeli law has changed in the interim and extradition is now possible.
(photo credit: The Jerusalem Post)