Katsav negotiating plea bargain
According to deal between Justice Ministry, suspended president's lawyers, Katsav will not be charged with rape, but admit to having sexual relations with some of the complainants against him
Attorney General Menachem Mazuz is expected to deliver a statement Thursday morning on the details of a plea bargain reached between suspended President Moshe Katsav and the Justice Ministry. He is expected to inform the multiple complainants Thursday regarding the revised indictment.
According to the plea bargain, which was published by Channel 10 Wednesday evening, rape charges against Katsav will be dropped in exchange for a guilty plea on lesser charges.
The Justice Ministry has confirmed that a plea deal was in the works, while the former president's attorneys declined comment.
Sources close to the Katsav said he had been persecuted for the past year and would "most likely agree to a plea bargain, simply because of the suffering his family has had to endure from this."
Nearly a month ago, Ynet reported that the State Prosecutor and Katsav's lawyers were in negotiations over a plea bargain, following the estimates of many in the State Prosecution that there was not enough evidence to convict Katsav in the indictment.
The criminal investigation against Katsav was launched last July, and on January 2007 Mazuz decided to indict him for a series of sexual offenses, including rape.
About a month ago, Katsav's lawyers presented Mazuz with a document containing new evidence against the complainants. The 120-page long document presented the women in a way that contradicted their credibility, and some officials said it could refute the charges against Katsav.
The plea bargain sends an appalling message, said Tal Kramer-Vadai, director-general of the sexual assault crisis center.
"We all need to raise an eyebrow. This sends an appalling and painful message to all victims of sexual assault in Israel. It only shows that powerful people can manipulate the system," she told Ynet.
