WORLD> Middle East
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WORLD> Middle East
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Israel's former president charged with rape
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-03-19 20:50 JERUSALEM – Former Israeli President Moshe Katsav was indicted Thursday on rape and other sexual offense charges, after calling off a plea deal that would have allowed him to escape jail time.
Katsav was charged with raping a woman who once worked for him, in addition to lesser sex crimes involving two other former employees. The indictment was filed in a Tel Aviv district court. Attorney General Meni Mazuz notified the former president two weeks ago that he would be charged. Days later, Katsav delivered a 2 1/2-hour televised harangue in which he denied all charges, fiercely attacked his accusers and waved a compact disc that he said would prove his innocence. The women worked for Katsav when he was tourism minister in the 1990s and president earlier this decade. They have accused him of rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment, in a case that has been dragging on for nearly three years. Katsav allegedly forced one of the women to the floor of his office at the tourism ministry, where we pulled off her pants and raped her, according to the indictment. A second time, he summoned her to a Jerusalem hotel to go over paperwork, and raped her on the bed in his room, it added. Katsav, 63, resigned two weeks before his seven-year term ended in 2007 under a plea bargain that would have required him to admit to lesser charges of sexual misconduct but avoid jail time. Last April, he called off the deal and said he would stand trial to clear his name.
The charges against Katsav are the most serious allegations ever brought against an Israeli leader. Although Israel's presidency is a largely ceremonial position, 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 was replaced by elder statesman and Nobel peace laureate Shimon Peres. |
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