High Court petition calls for indictment against Katsav
Movement for Quality Government in Israel asks judges to instruct attorney general to immediately file charges against former president
The petitioners stressed that "the attorney general announced that had there not been a plea bargain, there would have been a clear tendency to file an indictment which includes the severe charges, including rape, in terms of complainant A. (who worked with Katsav during his tenure as tourism minister)."
According to the petition, "When Katsav announced he was reneging the plea bargain, there was no longer any justification to file a mitigative indictment which would not include the severe charges included in the draft indictment.
"The delay in filing an indictment which reflects the severity of the evidence and the attorney general's decision to concede the severe charges, which led to the replacement of the barrister handling the case, are extremely unreasonable.
"Such conduct on the part of the prosecution authorities harms the public's trust in the rule of law and the court's ability to reach the truth as time goes by, and therefore any further delay must be avoided."
The petitioners stated that the delay in filing the indictment "harms the victims of the offense, as the longer the State Prosecutor's stalls, so does the trial and the expected sentence, and the painful affair remains open, without enabling them to put it behind them."
