Katsav
Photo: AP
Katsav lawyers contest A-G's turpitude charges
Lawyers of former president seek to ensure that offenses mentioned in plea bargain signed with Katsav do not carry moral turpitude in bid to prevent him from losing lifetime perks
Attorneys representing Moshe Katsav told the High Court on Sunday that the sex offenses attributed to the former president did not carry moral turpitude.
Katsav's lawyers said the state prosecution would not have offered the former president a plea bargain had he committed severe criminal offenses.
"Had there been demands for turpitude, we would not have accepted the plea bargain," the lawyers told the court.
The lawyers were responding to charges by Attorney General Menachem Mazuz that the sex offenses stated in the plea deal involved moral turpitude, which made them severe criminal acts.
According to a plea bargain reached between Katsav's lawyers and Mazuz in June, the former president would confess to several counts of sexual harassment and indecent acts against former female employees.
The bargain spares Katsav a jail sentence and drops rape charges filed by a former secretary known as A.
Katsav's lawyers are seeking to ensure that the offenses mentioned in the plea bargain are not ruled as carrying moral turpitude, so as to prevent their client from losing generous retirement perks.
Following the Katsav affair, the Knesset Committee voted in favor of stripping senior public figures of lifetime perks if convicted of crimes with moral terpitude.
