Last update - 00:00 02/05/2007
Hearing ends on Katsav rape allegations; another hearing in two weeks
By Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz Correspondent
A hearing at the Justice Ministry on rape and breach of trust allegations against President Moshe Katsav ended Wednesday with an agreement to hold a further hearing in about two weeks.
Attorney General Menachem Mazuz had been expected to reject the request by Katsav's defense team and instruct them to present all their arguments in the Wednesday hearing.
The attorney general does not want to delay his decision on whether to indict Katsav - which he has previously said he will make within 10-14 days of the hearing, as long as the hearing does not involve any legal surprises requiring a reconsideration of the case or additional investigation.
Katsav's lawyers argued that the hearing marks the defense team's first opportunity to respond to the evidence in detail and that they would need three or four hours to address each charge, although Mazuz had said the hearing would not be a substitute for a trial and should not deal with every detail.
A representative of the defense team said Katsav's attorneys hoped Mazuz would "leave all the opinions he formulated in the case, his conclusions and knowledge, outside the room, and will relate to the arguments in the hearing like someone formulating his position for the first time."
Although such hearings sometimes provide a platform for defense attorneys to offer plea bargains or deals to tone down an indictment, Katsav's lawyers said they did not plan to make any such offers, and that they aim to convince Mazuz not to indict Katsav at all.
But given the deliberations in the attorney general's office regarding the decision in principle to indict Katsav and the apparent strength of the evidence, the defense team is not believed to have a good chance of getting Mazuz to drop the case.
In addition to Mazuz and Katsav's attorneys, State Prosecutor Eran Shendar also attended the hearing, along with Jerusalem district prosecutor Eli Abarbanel, and Irit Baumhorn, who is expected to represent the prosecution if Katsav goes to trial.