The defense team representing former President Moshe Katsav, who
is charged with
rape, indecent acts and sexual harassment, has aligned itself with the court and State Prosecutor's Office's position and motioned that the media not be allowed inside trial hearings or to publish the content of proceedings.
The step constitutes a dramatic turnaround from the legal team's original standpoint
at the beginning of the trial. At the time, Katsav's attorneys claimed that the trial should be open to the public and that proceedings should be made available, citing the public's right to know.
During a Supreme Court hearing on Tuesday regarding Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth's motion to publish the proceedings, Katsav's attorney Avraham Lavi claimed that an open-court trial may "contaminate the testimonies in the trial" and disrupt normal proceedings.
Attorney Lavi further added that the "reality of closed-doors has proved itself" and claimed it was the most effective way of isolating the trial from the mass public. After hearing both parties' arguments, Supreme Court Justice Salim Jubran turned the matter over to a panel of three judges.
Last June the Tel Aviv District Court ruled that the former president's trial would be held behind closed doors and that the content of some of the hearings would be made public once they are adjourned.
The court explained its ruling by stating that there was "reasonable fear that his (Katsav's) testimony will include details which may reveal the complainants' identity and violate their privacy."
Katsav's attorneys then claimed that the trial should be open since the complainants had already forgone their privacy by giving extensively detailed interviews relating what the defendant had allegedly done to them.
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