According to the State Attorney’s Office the opinion offered by the Israel Prison Service about the rehabilitation treatment that Katsav will undergo has not yet been submitted. The discussions about his release are expected to take place next month.
The request for cancelling the discussions notes that according to the recent decision already taken by the parole board, Katsav is only eligible to request another hearing on the matter after 6 months—a time period which has not yet elapsed.
“I can only express my great shock and sorrow in light of the claims by the prosecution,” said Katsav’s defense attorney Zion Amir.
“The date of the hearing was decided upon in accordance with the decision by the parole board. Moreover, we have a lot to say and it will be said during the hearing that will take place on December 11. Hundreds of discussions like this, if not more, have taken place and I have never come across something so far-fetched as this. The time has come to put an end to the tragic and painful saga and to set him free after serving five years in prison.”
Last August Israel Prison Service's parole board decided to reject Katsav's request for early release. It was the second time his appeal had been denied in the space of just four months, his previous request being submitted in April.
Katsav was sentenced to seven years in prison and two years of probation for rape, indecent acts, sexual harassment and obstruction of justice in March 2011, and he began serving in December of that year.