Last update - 00:00 28/11/2006
Prosecution in Ramon trial: Defense evidence is unreliable
By Nir Hasson, Haaretz Correspondent
Prosecuting attorney Segal-Antler in former justice minister Haim Ramon's sexual assault case said on Tuesday the "the evidence presented by Ramon created a false perception of the events."
Ramon is standing trial in the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court on charges of forcibly kissing H., a 20-year-old soldier, at a Tel Aviv government office shortly before her discharge from military service.
Segal-Antler said she rejects Ramon's testimony in which he stated that the complainant had flirted with him. "All the evidence in this case, including the evidence presented by the defense, is not in Ramon's favor," she said. "The question the court faces now is whether the events in fact occurred the way the complainant described them. Should the court decide to rely on her version, it will determine the credibility of the complainant as well as the defendant."
According to Segal-Antler, the prosecution has proven that the complainant's version is the accurate one. "Not only has [The complainant's] version never been contradicted, but it has only been reinforced by things like her immediate complaint, and her state of mind following the event," she said. "Her story is logical, coherent and backed by witnesses," Segal-Antler added.
Segal-Antler added that "the public is eagerly awaiting the court's decision, not only because Ramon is a former minister but also because the public expects a moral judgment to be made by the court regarding the complete autonomy a person holds over his own body. Even when a woman chooses to giggle with someone, or even pose for a photograph with her arms around someone, she needn't give up her right to decide what can be done to her body."
"As to Ramon's claim that the kiss was consensual," Segal-Antler said, "no reasonable person can say that the complainant could have fallen in love with the defendant and willingly kissed him after a two minute conversation, be its content what it may."
Ramon's attorney Dan Shinman is expected to argue that the kiss had been the climax of a mutual flirtation, initiated by H., and that Ramon could not have known that she was not interested in the kiss. In addition, Shinman will argue that the excessive enthusiasm displayed by the police and the prosecution in charging Ramon, as well as the failures in the investigation such as the police's secret wiretaps, had obstructed justice and therefore Ramon should be acquitted.
The closing remarks of the trial are expected to continue for one more day next week. Following the closing, the judges will begin to formulate the verdict.