A one-time colleague of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was assassinated in 1995, was sentenced to two years in prison Friday for having solicited a bribe in a foreign arms deal, a judicial source said.
Former Israeli cabinet secretary Shimon Sheves was also given a one year suspended sentence and fined 50,000 shekels (12,000 dollars).
Sheves was found guilty by a Tel Aviv court on October 22 of having tried to "obtain a bribe, attempted fraud and abuse of trust" while trying to seal an arms deal for an Israeli firm with a foreign country, which could not be named.
Sheves, who quit in June 1995, tried in vain to obtain between five and 10 million dollars in the scandal, according to the court.
Shevesn, who said Friday that he will appeal the sentence to the supreme court, will remain free pending that appeal.
According to foreign media cited by Israeli radio, the deal in questioned involved an arms sale to Taiwan.
Sheves had pleaded innocent and stressed he had "always acted with the green light of Yitzhak Rabin."
He has said he would appeal a guilty verdict before the Supreme Court -- TEL AVIV (AFP)
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