Israeli judge criticizes Olmert probe

JERUSALEM, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- A prominent retired Israeli judge says police exceeded their authority by recommending that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert be charged with taking bribes.

Judge Eliyahu Winograd, who headed an official investigation of Israel's war with Lebanon and a committee that authored regulations covering the release of police investigation documents, says the police moves in the Olmert case were detrimental to the country, Ynetnews reported Monday.

"The state prosecutor's office will have the final say on whether or not to file an indictment, but the way things are, if the attorney general decides not to file charges, they'll say he's gutless," Winograd told Ynetnews.

He claimed media coverage of Olmert's investigation has produced an expectation that the prime minister will be indicted, and thus Attorney General Menachem Mazuz will feel undue pressure to follow the police recommendations.

"The public has been feeding off these publications, which say the police think there is reasonable basis for a bribery indictment," Winograd told Ynetnews. "If the attorney general thinks otherwise, he will be accused of being 'soft' on the prime minister."