President Reuven Rivlin used his authority to pardon prisoners to release an 81-year-old Holocaust survivor from jail due to his deteriorating condition.

Real estate magnate Shaul Lagziel in 2015 was convicted of bribing former Ramat Gan Mayor Tzvi Bar and he was sentenced to an 11-month jail term along with a NIS 300,000 fine. The former mayor, also a man in his 80s, was sentenced to 5.5 years for accepting bribes from Lagziel and others.

Lagziel’s attorney took his case to the High Court of Justice, and the court reduced it from 11 to 9 months. With his health deteriorating to the point doctors fear his life may be in danger, President Rivlin intervened and used his authority to pardon him to release him from prison and he will be required to carry out six months of community service instead as well as increasing the fine from NIS 300,000 to NIS 550,000.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)