Justice Ministry hopes Korb can return to courtroom

By DAN IZENBERG, JPOST.COM STAFF
olmert at court 311 AJ (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
olmert at court 311 AJ
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
A day before the first day of testimony in the trial of former prime minister Ehud Olmert, sources in the Justice Ministry told The Jerusalem Post onWednesday that Jerusalem District Attorney Eli Abarbanel had beenscheduled to open the key portion of the trial even before his deputy,Uri Korb, was forced to take a leave of absence because of theallegedly malicious comments he made against the judiciary, includingcalling most of the judges “asses.”
The sources stressed thatAbarbanel has been in charge of the Olmert file from the beginning andthat he has 25 years of experience as a prosecutor, including six asdistrict attorney.
But they also made it clear that “in the longrun,” they hoped that Korb would be able to return to the courtroom andrepresent the state in the case. They said the prosecution haddescribed Korb’s importance in its request to Jerusalem District Courtto postpone the trial by three months after Korb went on forcedvacation, a request that was rejected by Jerusalem District CourtPresident Moussia Arad.
“Attorney Korb has been involved in thiscase from the beginning,” Abarbanel wrote in the request to the court.“He is well-versed in the smallest details and is due to take asignificant part in the state’s appearances in court. His absence atthis point will cause harm to the prosecution and its ability topresent its case in court.”
Korb’s future in the public service is to be determined by Civil Service Commissioner Shmuel Hollander.
Earlierthis week, the head of the department of discipline in the commission,Assaf Rosenberg, grilled Korb on the comments he made about the judgesduring a post-graduate seminar he delivered to about 20 students atShaarei Mishpat College in Hod Hasharon.
According to reports,Korb will appear before a disciplinary court. There are also reportsthat the attorney taught at the college for three years and did not askfor permission to do outside work.