'Police will only tell us before probe'

Olmert spokesman: “They won’t coordinate it with us ahead of time."

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
olmert court 311 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
olmert court 311
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Police will not notify ex-prime minister Ehud Olmert of plans to question him until a few hours before the interrogation takes place, Olmert’s spokesman, Amir Dan, told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday evening.
“They won’t coordinate it with us ahead of time,” Dan said.
Olmert was mayor of Jerusalem when plans for an enlarged Holyland residential complex were approved by the municipality – a procedure police say was driven by widespread bribery.
The former prime minister is suspected of accepting large bribes from the project’s backer, businessman Hillel Charni, in exchange for helping to ensure that the construction plans received approval. Olmert has denied all allegations against him.
On Monday, the Petah Tikva District Court rejected an appeal by former deputy mayor and current city councilman Eliezer Simhayoff against the decision last week by the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court to extended his custody by eight days.
Simhayoff was arrested last week on suspicion of demanding andreceiving hundreds of thousands of shekels in bribes. Police said he“divided the cash between himself and others in the municipality.”
His attorney, Moshe Osditsher, argued that there was no logic inholding his client in custody “while the main suspects in the case havebeen released,” referring to the recent release to house arrest offormer Jerusalem mayor Uri Lupalionski and Holyland company accountantEliyahu Hasson.
Judge Avraham Tal of the Petah Tikva court upheld the remand extension,saying classified case material made available to him by police showedthat Simhayoff’s alleged role in the affair was unrelated to those ofthe suspects who had been released, and that there was no sound basisfor releasing him.