President to be interrogated Wednesday
Police investigators to arrive at Katsav's Jerusalem residence, interrogate him on suspicion of sexually harassing employee, pardoning prisoners in exchange for money. President denies allegations, claims employee tried to blackmail him
The investigators will interrogate Katsav about the contradictory versions regarding the acts he is suspected of. A former employee at the President's Office claimed that he had sexually harassed her, while Katsav denied the allegations and claimed that the employee attempted to blackmail him.
According to Katsav, the woman demanded that he give her money and threatened that if he refuses she would claim the president pardons prisoners in exchange for money, which is deposited in bank accounts outside Israel.
On Monday night, police investigators raided the President's Residence and confiscated computers and documents related to the investigation.
The investigators are set to arrive at the President's Residence on Wednesday morning, and according to estimations the interrogation will last several hours. According to some reports, the president's wife Gila Katsav will also be asked to testify during the day.
One of the president's lawyers, Attorney Zion Amir, told Ynet on Tuesday evening that "it is totally clear that the president completely denies any allegation or suspicion of criminal acts. We claim complete innocence."
"The president has no plan to resign and he will fight using all the legal means in order to prove his innocence," Amir said, adding that the president plans to fully cooperate with the investigators.
'Why did secretary ask for her job back?'
Katsav is also represented by Prof. David Libai. Katsav and Libai noted that the president was the one who turned to the attorney general, while the former employee did not file a police complaint against the president and, according to them, even asked for her job back on several occasions.
"If the secretary was indeed harassed and allegedly suffered from the president's behavior, why did she pressure him to take her back to work at his office and why did she shower him with gifts and luxury items?" The lawyers asked.
The two turned to Attorney General Menachem Mazuz and demanded to make public the tape in which they claim the worker is heard trying to blackmail the president, in a bit to refute her version that she was sexually harassed and never tried to blackmail Katsav.
The lawyers claimed that the tape proves that the extortion attempt had nothing to do with sexual relations and that the secretary's version was "imaginary and false."
"The claim of sexual intercourse is a version which was planned later for the purposes of the police investigation in order to provide a distorted and acquitting interpretation to the extortion attempt," the two claimed.
The worker's attorney Kinneret Barashi told Ynet: "I don’t see it fit to respond to the remarks made by the president's experienced attorneys and I am absolutely certain that the police interrogation will lead to uncovering the truth."
Efrat Weiss contributed to the report
