Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert has been released from prison on parole after serving two-thirds
of a 27-month sentence for fraud.
He was jailed in 2016 after being convicted of bribery and obstruction of justice while a trade minister.
Olmert was the first former Israeli head of government to be jailed.
He became prime minister in 2006 but resigned three years later when police recommended a series of charges against him.
The 71-year-old did not speak to reporters as he left Maasiyahu prison in central Israel.
Earlier,
the Israeli parole board said Olmert had undergone a "significant
rehabilitation process" in prison and his behaviour had been largely
"impeccable".
He is however currently being investigated by the
state attorney's office over suspicions he smuggled a chapter of a book
he is writing out of prison, raising fears that it might compromise
national security.
There had been calls for leniency after a
leaked picture of him in a hospital gown looking gaunt circulated on
social media last week.
He had been taken to hospital complaining of chest pains but was given the all-clear and returned to prison.
In
2014, Olmert was convicted of bribery in connection with a property
development dating to his period as mayor of Jerusalem between 1993 and
2003.
He was also convicted of fraud, breach of trust and
obstructing justice when a trade minister, in a series of separate
trials, and acquitted of other charges.
BBC NEWS
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