A court in Israel has sentenced former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to six years in prison for bribery and fined him 1m shekels (about N45 million).

The judge ordered Olmert to report to prison on September 1, which gives his lawyers time to file their planned appeal with the Supreme Court.

Olmert, 68, would be the first former head of government in Israel to be jailed. He was convicted in March over a real estate deal that took place while he served as mayor of Jerusalem.

The Tel Aviv District Court found he had accepted a 500,000-shekel (N22.5m) bribe from the developers of a controversial apartment complex, known as Holyland, for which planning and zoning laws were changed, and another 60,000 shekels for a separate project.

Ten other government officials and businesspeople were convicted alongside Olmert. The sentences handed down on Tuesday against six of them ranged from three to seven years.

Judge David Rozen said bribery offences “contaminate the public sector” and “cause the structure of government to collapse.”

He added: “People who receive bribes give rise to a feeling of disgust and cause the public to despise the state’s institutions. The taker of bribes is like a traitor who betrays the public trust that was given to him – trust without which a proper public service cannot be maintained.”

The judge said Olmert had made a “large contribution to the country.”

But he described his offences as “noxious” and said he was guilty of “moral turpitude”, which under Israeli law would preclude him from running for public office for seven years after finishing his jail term.

Olmert reportedly stood quietly in the courtroom with his head bowed. His lawyers had sought a non-custodial sentence.

Before the sentencing hearing, the veteran politician's spokesman, Amir Dan, had insisted that he was innocent.

“This is a sad day where a serious and unjust verdict is expected to be delivered against an innocent man,” he said.

Olmert served as Prime Minister from 2006 to 2009, until a flurry of corruption allegations led to his resignation.

He was acquitted of most of the major charges eventually brought against him by prosecutors but was also found guilty of breach of trust and given a one-year suspended jail sentence.

He was found to have made decision when he was minister of trade and industry that benefited clients of a close associate.

•Source: BBC. Photo shows jailed ex-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

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