Attorney-General slams Ramon's 'crusade'

Says "senior minister who was indicted and then convicted has been conducting a crusade against law enforcement branches by making proposals to limit their powers."

By DAN IZENBERG
mazuz 248.88 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
mazuz 248.88
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz blasted Vice Premier Haim Ramon on Wednesday for allegedly trying to undermine the law enforcement branches of government by limiting their powers. Mazuz was speaking at the closing session of the third annual Movement for Quality Government conference in Jerusalem, which dealt with corruption in the public sector. "It is no secret and this is no revelation," Mazuz said. "A senior minister who was indicted two years ago and then convicted [for sexual harassment] has been conducting a crusade against the law enforcement branches in different ways by making proposals to limit their powers, examine how they functions, and by raising strange claims to the effect that the attorney-general is imposing a legal position on the government." The last reference came in response to a speech made by Ramon on Friday in which he said, referring to Mazuz, "This is not legal advice. This is legal dictate. Advice is nice. You either accept it or you don't. But the advice has turned into absolute policy." Mazuz retorted that "the law is not a recommendation. The law is an obligation that everyone, not just the ordinary citizen but also the government, must obey. It is the job of the attorney-general to inform the government of what the law says." Mazuz appeared even more angry at the proposal submitted by Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann at Ramon's urging to establish a government committee of examination into the wiretapping affair in which the state attorney's office failed to hand over transcripts of wiretapped conversations to Ramon's lawyer before the beginning of his trial. "Does it make sense that a minister who was tried and convicted initiates a proposal whereby the political echelon, some of whose members are themselves under police investigation, will initiate an investigation of their investigators?" Mazuz asked. He added that the government had refused to allow the police or the state prosecution to investigate themselves regarding the wiretapping affair. "They have no faith in the police or the state prosecution," Mazuz said. "What they have faith in is for the government to examine the law enforcement system itself. This is unacceptable. It is the straw that breaks the camel's back, the crossing of red lines, and we will fight against it."