Confrontation between Katsav, A. doesn't change police move to indict

The police's recommendation to indict former president Moshe Katsav on charges of rape has not changed following a confrontation Friday between Katsav and the complainant, A. from the Tourism Ministry, police said yesterday.

"The police have said all along that a confrontation was unnecessary, and we stand by our decision that the evidentiary basis is strong enough to indict Katsav for rape," a police official said yesterday.

The confrontation was arranged at the request of the prosecution as part of the process of completing preparations for an indictment, after Katsav rejected a plea bargain that had previously been reached.

During the confrontation, conducted by the lead investigator on the case, Maj. Gen. Yoav Sigalovich, and two other detectives, A. was asked to describe Katsav's alleged sexual attacks. A. described, as she had done for police in the past, the attacks that Katsav allegedly committed in his office and in his Jerusalem hotel room while tourism minister.

Sources close to the investigation said the meeting was tense, and Katsav lashed out against A., asking her among other things why she had asked to work with him at the President's Residence years after the alleged rape, and why she had written him a love letter. A. did not respond to the questions.

Sources close to Katsav said he had managed undermine A.'s credibility by showing contradictions in her version of events.

Law enforcement officials involved in the confrontation said yesterday: "The outcome of the confrontation is not decided immediately, but only after thorough analysis of the statements. No weight is given to the body language of Katsav or the complainant under such circumstances, or to who raised their voice or who looked into whose eyes."

"The police do not intend to decide this file again," a police official said yesterday. "The ball is now in the attorney general's court, and he will have to decide," the official added.