Last update - 00:00 29/09/2006
IDF colonel sentenced to 6 years in jail for raping female soldier
By Yuval Azoulay, Haaretz Correspondent, and Haaretz Service
An Israel Defense Forces colonel was sentenced Friday to six years in jail for raping a female soldier under his command.
The military appeals court at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv also ruled that Colonel Ataf Zahar must pay the woman NIS 35,000 in compensation, and busted Zahar down to the rank of private.
Zahar was convicted of the rape in July.
"Ataf coarsely trampled the complainant's body, transformed her into a sexual object, and made black use of her innocence to satisfy his sexual urges," the judges ruled.
The court rejected Zahar's request for permission to appeal to the Supreme Court.