Omri Sharon: I won't ask for a pardon

Former MK says he was surprised to learn about the petition drive on television.

By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN
omri sharon 224.88 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
omri sharon 224.88
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
Former MK Omri Sharon on Tuesday thanked the 30 Knesset members who have signed a petition calling on President Shimon Peres to pardon him, but he said he would not actively seek a pardon. In a conversation with Kadima MK Shlomo Mula, who visited him at Ma'asiyahu prison in Ramle, Sharon said he was not involved in any effort to get himself pardoned, but that "if Peres decides to pardon me, I of course won't oppose it." He said he was surprised to learn about the petition drive on television. "I won't ask for [a pardon] and I know I wouldn't get one," Sharon told Ma'ariv journalist Ben Caspit. Deputy Foreign Minister Majallie Whbee (Kadima) organized the petition, which was signed by six cabinet ministers: Shaul Mofaz, Gideon Ezra, Ya'acov Edri, Ze'ev Boim and Ruhama Avraham, all from Kadima, and Shalom Simhon of Labor. "We, the undersigned, members of the Knesset, appeal to you to give positive consideration to granting a pardon to Mr. Omri Sharon to enable him to remain at his father's bedside," the petition said, referring to former prime minister Ariel Sharon. Omri Sharon was convicted in Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court on February 13, 2006 of making false entries into the documents of a corporate body, taking a false oath and violating the Political Parties Law when he was raising money for his father's Likud leadership race against Ehud Olmert.