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6 Ellul 5760 - September 6, 2000 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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Home and Family
Arye Deri Begins Prison Sentence -- Tens of Thousands Escort Him
by Betzalel Kahn

At the conclusion of a long motorcade beginning in Jerusalem and ending in front of the Ramle prison, former chairman of Shas Arye Deri, entered prison to begin serving his three- year prison term. As of now Deri will be incarcerated in the shomrei mitzvos branch of the Ma'asiyahu prison, though there are reports that Deri will ask to transfer elsewhere.

A huge motorcade assembled early Sunday morning in Jerusalem, resulting in the closure of numerous streets while Deri's admirers accompanied him to the city exit. Large traffic jams were formed on Highway One as police directed the hundreds of vehicles to Ramle.

Shas held a farewell rally for its former chairman opposite the prison which was generally orderly and peaceful. Among the speakers were Arye Deri himself, who begged for forgiveness from a long line of rabbonim and askonim. At the close of his remarks before entering the prison, he begged forgiveness from Maran, the Rosh Hayeshiva, HaGaon HaRav Eliezer Menachem Shach, shlita.

Deri underwent the prison classification routine two hours later than scheduled, due to the large rally.

A police official in charge of supervising the event estimated the crowd at 15-20,000.

Prison Services relate that Deri was transferred to the shomrei mitzvos branch of the Ma'asiyahu prison, where he will serve his three-year term, a third of which is customarily deducted for good behavior. Deri reportedly had asked to serve in the Hermon prison.

The case began some ten years ago after a newspaper report. The investigation lasted for seven years and cost many millions. In the end, Deri was convicted of relatively minor counts of bribery and breaches, but nonetheless he is the first government minister to be put behind bars.

Support for Deri continues outside of the Ma'asiyahu Prison. On Sunday night a tent was erected outside of the jail where religious studies are scheduled to take place. He will have to serve at least a quarter of his sentence before he can request furloughs. This means he have to serve for nine months before he can request leave. Deri will be allowed to wear civilian clothing. Every week his children and three adults will be allowed to visit for half an hour.

 

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