Jerusalem  - Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert arrived at Jerusalem's District Court Friday morning for the opening of his trial on corruption charges.

The criminal trial is the first against a former premier in Israel.

Olmert was indicted on charges of fraud, breach of trust, forging of corporate documents, and failure to report income. He will not face charges of bribery, as the police had recommended to prosecutors.

Among others, he is suspected of having submitted the same travel expenses for trips abroad multiple times to different government bodies and Jewish organizations, accumulating the excess money in a special account and using it for private trips with his family. That alleged corruption scandal became known in the Israeli media as Rishon Tours, after the travel agency which managed the special bank account for him, or as "Olmertours."

The former premier is also suspected of having accepted envelopes with large amounts of cash from a Jewish-American businessman Morris Talansky. Olmert insists they constituted legitimate donations.

The allegations forced Olmert, of the centrist Kadima party, to resign one year ago. They also pushed Israel into new, early elections in which the bloc of right-wing parties headed by the hardline Likud, of current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, won a majority of mandates.

Olmert insisted on his innocence at the start of his trial Friday, telling reporters as he arrived at the court, in remarks broadcast live on Israel Radio, "I arrived here as a man free of any crimes, and I believe I will leave here as a man free of any crimes."

"This position is obviously not easy for me," he said, adding he had "paid a heavy price" since the "almost inhumane" flood of accusations against him first surfaced and the police investigations against him began.

"Now is the time for facts, only facts," he said.

Olmert's attorney, Navot Tel Tzur, told reporters Friday's first session would be "mainly technical." (dpa)