A Pensioners Party activist filed a police complaint over the weekend against Knesset Member Yitzhak Ziv, who she claims
sexually assaulted her, Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Monday.
Major-General Yohanan Danino, head of the police's Investigation and Intelligence Department, has decided to launch a criminal investigation against MK Ziv, who will be summoned for questioning in the near future.
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| Only one truth / Mordechai Gilat |
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MK Ziv's silence in face of sexual assault allegations raises questions |
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The woman, R, hired attorney Avi Himi to represent her, and on Thursday evening the two arrived at a police station and filed an official complaint.
Sources involved in the investigation told Yedioth Ahronoth reporter Tzvika Brot that the woman gave a detailed testimony for about five hours, during which she broke into tears a number of times.
R described her version of the incident. According to her account, she arrived for a work meeting at the MK's home shortly before the 2006 Knesset elections.
When they walked into the bedroom he hugged her from the back, pulled up her shirt and bra and grabbed her breasts. She told the police that she tried to resist him, but he threw her forcibly on the bed. At this stage, she managed to slip away and leave the apartment.
The woman underwent a lie detector test, which showed that she was telling the truth. According to R, she decided not to complain for fear that her status in the party would be harmed. However, Rafi Eitan, the Pensioner Party chairman, recommended that she go to the police immediately.
"I feel relieved after I spoke and saw that people are backing and encouraging me," she said over the weekend. "But as far as I am concerned, this is not enough, until he is punished for his actions."
MK Ziv continues to deny the woman's claims, explaining that the whole affair is "political revenge." On Wednesday he hired former President Moshe Moshe Katsav's lawyer, attorney Zion Amir, to represent him.
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