Liberman probed again over Ambassador Affair

At request of Prosecutor's Office, former foreign minister investigated for around 40 minutes on suspicion of breach of trust.

By BEN HARTMAN, YONAH JEREMY BOB, HERB KEINON
Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman 390 (photo credit: Flash 90)
Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman 390
(photo credit: Flash 90)
Former foreign minister Avigdor Liberman was investigated late Tuesday night under suspicion of breach of trust as part of the Belarus Ambassador Affair.
The investigation, which was requested by the Prosecutor's Office, began at 10:00 pm and lasted around 40 minutes.
Earlier in the day, Liberman dismissed a flood of "rumors and quotes" about the Ambassador Affair, asserting they have no connection to reality.
Liberman issued a statement dismissing the reports the morning after Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon unequivocally denied reports broadcast Monday night by both Channel 2 and Channel 10 which claimed he had given police testimony against his former boss.
Liberman said that he wanted to emphasize that rumors and quotes attributed to him and his "associates" that were circulating in the media, "did not exist... and their purpose was not particularly sophisticated manipulation, to disrupt the proceedings and throw sand in the eyes of the public."
"Everything I have to say, I will say in the proceedings of the investigation by the police and the court," he added
According to the broadcasts, the deputy foreign minister was questioned only recently about the affair, which until then had only involved allegations that former ambassador Ze’ev Ben- Aryeh leaked investigative material to Liberman, after which Liberman passively withheld information on this from a Foreign Ministry committee that was considering Ben-Aryeh for a new posting in Latvia.
The new allegations against Liberman, which started to surface last week, are that he did not just passively withhold information, but actively interfered in the appointment process on Ben-Aryeh’s behalf.
On Monday, the State Comptroller’s Office formally confirmed that it had received requests to investigate Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein’s handling of the Liberman case.
Liberman and many other politicians have questioned Weinstein’s decision to delay an indictment so he could investigate the new charges after the attorney-general announced he would file the indictment last week, and after Liberman had already resigned as foreign minister.
Jpost.com staff contributed to this report