Thursday, December 30, 2010

Israeli ex-President Katsav convicted of rape

Jerusalem:



Israel\'s disgraced ex-President Moshe Katsav was today convicted of rape of a former employee and faces up to 16 years in jail over the four-year-old scandal that had shocked the country.







65-year-old Katsav, who was charged with raping and sexually abusing a former employee from the Tourism Ministry, was convicted by a Tel Aviv District Court, which declared his version of events as \"riddled with lies\".







The former President appeared pale, shaking his head in disbelief after the judges read out the verdict convicting him of two counts of rape, which can lead to a severe sentence of four to 16 years in jail.







The verdict in the case comes almost four years after complaints of severe sexual offences surfaced against Katsav, which relate to his terms as Tourism Minister and President of the State of Israel.







\"The event happened in the accused\'s office,\" the judges said adding, \"... this is not sexual harassment, this is rape.\"



Referring to the victim as \'A\', the judges said that just because \'A\' complained years after the event, does not mean that she is lying, adding that her testimony contradicts Katsav\'s.







\"I knocked on the door, and he was wearing just a shirt, and came close to me. I told him \'enough, stop,\' but he continued for ten minutes,\" Judge George Kara quoted \'A\' as saying.







The court said that the complainant\'s testimony is backed by evidence.







In the courtroom, Katsav\'s sons protested saying \"it\'s not true, it\'s not true!\"







Judge Karra, while reading out the verdict, also emphasised that the lengthy time that passed over the course of the trial brought about new evidence supporting A\'s claim and essentially discrediting Katsav.





In addition, the former President was also charged with sexually harassing one \'H\' from the President\'s Residence, sexually abusing and harassing another person \'L\' from the President\'s Residence; and harassing a witness and obstructing justice.







The year-long trial took place almost entirely behind closed doors and left the public wondering whether the former President took a wise risk by withdrawing from a very lenient plea bargain about two years ago.







Judge Karra said that in choosing not to accept a plea bargain, Katsav had shuffled the deck in his case. \"The defendant added himself to the litany of accusations and defamations.\"







The plea bargain did not include the most serious charges and promised Katsav a suspended sentence at worse, but the former President decided to prove his complete innocence in court.







The Judge said that Katsav tried to charm A and when she did not respond to his overtures, he began to harass her.



The defendant told the victim that he was in love with her and left her feeling humiliated, Karra noted.







The verdict read out by the panel of three judges comprising Karra, Miriam Sokolov and Judith Shevach, was the first judicial statement on the veracity of allegations repeated, dissected and mulled over by the Israeli media over four years.







The judges also trashed Katsav\'s claim of a media lynching.







\"The accused claimed that the media treated him unfairly, but he was a part of the publicity and the slander,\" Kara said, referring to his press conference on the matter and criticism of former Attorney General Menachem Mazuz.





After an initial attempt to have the reading of the verdict of the sensational case closed to the media, its main substance was read in open court today, but how much of the verdict was actually to be released for publication will be decided only after the state submits its position on the matter.







Katsav\'s attorney, Avigdor Feldman, said that the former President would \"continue in his attempts to prove his innocence\".







Various women\'s organisations demonstrated in front of the court, in solidarity with the women who accused Katsav of sexual offences.







The demonstrators held signs reading \"You are not alone\" and \"We believe you\".


News From: http://www.7StarNews.com

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