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Katsav escapes rape charges
26/02/2008 13:33 - (SA)
Jerusalem - Israel's highest court upheld on Tuesday a much criticised plea bargain that allowed former President Moshe Katsav to escape rape charges and a possible prison term.
A panel of five Supreme Court judges ruled 3-2 to accept the deal, concluding it did not fall outside the bounds of reasonability, Israeli media reported.
Katsav, who insists he was the victim of a witch hunt, left office in disgrace in June after four former female employees accused him of a series of sex crimes, including rape.
Facing indictment, he agreed to a plea bargain that allowed him to avoid the gravest charges.
Attorney General Meni Mazuz, who initially had announced his intention to charge Katsav on all counts, later suggested the state was uncertain it could convict Katsav on the rape charges.
Under the deal, Katsav agreed to plead guilty to two counts of sexual harassment and resign his office just two weeks before his seven-year term was up.
No jail time for Katsav
Now that the plea bargain has been approved, Katsav will receive a suspended sentence with no jail time. The original charges could have carried a sentence of up to 20 years.
In announcing the plea bargain, Mazuz said one of his considerations was the reputation of the Israeli presidency and his desire to avoid a prolonged trial with painful headlines - a point whose legal validity critics questioned.
Katsav's accusers charged that he repeatedly fondled them, kissed them, exposed himself to them and - in two cases - raped them while he served as president and earlier, as tourism minister.
The allegations roiled the country by portraying the man who was supposed to be Israel's moral compass as a predatory boss who forced himself on female employees.
Katsav stepped aside several months after the charges emerged in July 2006 in order to fight them, but refused to resign until the plea bargain forced him to do so.
'Justice was not served'
In an interview shortly after he quit, an unrepentant Katsav said he had gone through "a full year of incitement, persecution, when we were not allowed a calm moment, and constant efforts to prove my innocence."
Before the ruling, Katsav lawyer Zion Amir told Israel Radio that Katsav was uncomfortable with the deal, but accepted it only to avoid a drawn-out and emotionally draining trial.
The plea bargain drew a fierce public backlash from critics who said it would deter sexually abused women from pressing charges and allow Katsav to quietly fade away.
A poll by the Dahaf Research Institute published shortly after the deal was announced showed that 73% of those questioned thought justice was not served.
Women's rights activists have said the outcry over Katsav's plea deal is evidence of a slow evolution in Israeli public opinion, once tolerant of sexual misbehaviour by high-ranking public figures.
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