Former Israeli President Katsav begins jail sentence for rape

[News_Editor]

Former Israeli President Katsav begins jail sentence for rape

2011-12-08 01:48:51 GMT+7 (ICT)

TEL AVIV (BNO NEWS) -- Former Israeli President Moshe Katsav began a seven-year prison sentence for rape and sexual harassment on Wednesday, nearly a month after the country's Supreme Court upheld the sentence.

The former president arrived at the minimum-security Ma'asiyahu prison in central Israel just after 10 a.m. local time. He was accompanied by family members and escorted into the facility by two warders.

Prior to arriving at the prison, Katsav addressed media representatives and dozens of supporters who were waiting for him outside his home in the southern town of Kiryat Malachi. He told reporters that the court wrongly convicted him, adding that in Israel "a man is executed today without proof or evidence."

"A man is executed today because the court chose not to believe 20 real-time witnesses, instead taking the word of 20 witnesses speaking after the fact," the former president said, as quoted by the Haaretz newspaper. "One day you'll see that you have buried a man alive."

Katzav will initially be held in a cell which is designed for inmates who are thought to be at a risk of suicide. The cell is under the closer surveillance of guards and is equipped with two security cameras, Haaretz reported.

The former leader became the first Israeli president in history to receive a prison sentence for any crime after Israel's Supreme Court rejected his appeal on November 10.

Katsav was convicted unanimously by a three-judge tribunal of the Tel Aviv District Court in December 2010 on a number of counts of sex offenses. He was convicted of raping and sexually assaulting a former employee at the Tourism Ministry while Katsav was tourism minister. He was also convicted of sexually harassing two other employees when he was president between 2000 and 2007.

The 66-year-old was sentenced to seven years in prison and two years of probation in March of this year. The year-long trial took place almost entirely behind closed doors.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-12-08

[Jingthing]

Admirable that under the democracy of Israel even those in the highest offices are not immune from the consequences of criminal prosecution. A good example.

[MrMuddle]

Dear me, he's a bit of a drama queen isn't he ? Talking about executions (twice in the report), when he is actually in a minimum security jail. One has to assume he is behind bars because he is guilty, though as he is a rapist, hopefully a more secure prison cell awaits him.

I do feel that a seven year sentence is relatively light though, for the type of offence committed, also taking into consideration that Mr Katsav obviously did not admit guilt or show any remorse for the acts he committed. Perhaps the judges took his age into consideration?