Dear Sir/Madam:
I write to ask for your help in the case of Israeli whistle-blower Rafi Rotem, who is persecuted for over ten years, and now face frivolous criminal charges in the Tel Aviv Magistrate Court, which are likely to lead to his imprisonment.
A tax investigator blows the whistle
Rafi Rotme (born 1962) is an Israeli citizen, who was employed as an Intelligence Officer in the National Customs and VAT Investigations Unit.
[ i ] In that job, he won excellent periodic evaluations [ ii ] and a series of appreciation and commendation letters by the Israel police. [ iii , iv ]
Starting in 2003, he filed complaints of corruption of the highest levels in the Tax Authority, including:
Undermining of investigations, worth tens and hundreds of millions NIS, of businesses related to organized crime, to tycoons, and to the authorities;
Leaks and refusal to provide protection, which led to the murder of a "source", and
Sex bribes to a tax investigator.
Retaliation by state authorities and perversion of justice by the Israeli courts
Following his whistle-blowing, Mr Rotem suffered serious retaliation in the workplace and beyond.
Mr Rotem unsuccessfully tried to protect his rights in the Israeli courts.
In 2005, Mr Rotem's claims were denied in the Tel Aviv Labor Court. However, a report by senior journalist Moshe Lichtman documents the perversion of justice in this case: Records from Mr Rotem's personal employee's file were filed as evidence by the State authorities, which purported to show complaints by Mr Rotem's co-workers before the time of his whistle-blowing. Such records purported to portray Mr Rotem as a violent person.
Such records from Mr Rotem's employee's file were missing the employee's signatures, required by Israeli law. Furthermore, the individuals, who purportedly filed the complaints, failed to appear in court and take the stand. [ v ] Such records also contradicted Mr Rotem's periodic evaluations by his supervisors of the same years. [ ii ]
In addition, in retrospect it turned out that Judge Varda Samet's husband, Attorney Haim Samet was counsel for Gibor-Sport Corporation. [ vi , vii ] The aborted investigation against Gibor-Sport was one of the cases that were brough by Rafi Rotem as evidence for his whistle-blowing. Judge Samet did not disclose to the parties her conflict of interest in this matter, and did not recuse herself.
As a result of such proceedings, Mr Rotem's employment was terminated in the same year. The Judge Samet judgment was also later repeatedly cited by other Israeli courts in order to deny Mr Rotem protection and other rights as a whistle-blower.
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