Katsav asks for additional court hearing

The lawyers of former President Moshe Katsav, who is serving a seven-year prison term after being convicted of rape, filed a motion with the Supreme Court on Sunday for an additional hearing with an expanded panel of judges.

The former president stressed that the request had nothing to do with the "alternative claim" raised by his lawyers in the past, that he had a consensual sexual relationship with an employee during his tenure as tourism minister.

Related stories:

• Demjanjuk's lawyer to defend Katsav
• 'Katsav doesn’t want to be seen in prison uniform'
• Peres: Remove Katsav's statue from President's Residence
  

Katsav said he was sticking to his argument that he "never had any sexual relationship – whether consensual or not – with any of the women (mentioned in the indictment)."

Katsav noted that the request only applied to the rape conviction, but that this did not mean he was admitting to have committed the other offenses he was convicted of, but just acknowledging that as part of the restrictions of the procedure, his conviction on those offenses can no longer be challenged.

The former president went on to claim that he had been a victim of an incitement campaign which reached an "unprecedented media lynching".

He claimed that the former Tourism Ministry worker did not tell anyone for eight years that she had been raped by Katsav, but told seven different people about minor incidents which have also been denied by the former president. He also claimed that he had a solid alibi for the conviction of rape at the Plaza Hotel in June 1998.

About two and a half months ago, Supreme Court Judges Miriam Naor, Edna Arbel and Salim Jubran denied Katsav's appeal against his seven-year prison sentence for the rape of two former workers, sexual harassment and disruption of legal proceedings.

Katsav began his jail term on December 7 at the religious wing of the Maasiyahu Prison in Ramla, where conditions are considered relatively convenient.

Last week, he was visited in prison for the first time by his brother Lior while wearing a Prison Service jacket on top of civilian clothes.

Until then Katsav had not met any of his relatives due to his refusal to wear the orange prison jumpsuit.

• Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter
• Receive Ynetnews updates directly to your desktop