Petitions submitted to High Court delay hearing on Katsav plea deal
Women's rights groups petition High Court, claim AG's decision ignores seriousness of Katsav sex crimes.
By Yuval YoazThe High Court of Justice agreed Sunday to delay a hearing on the plea bargain that saw rape charges dropped from an indictment against former president Moshe Katsav for sex crimes, in order to hear a legal challenge to the deal.
The hearing will be postponed by at least 24 hours.
The court gave Attorney General Menachem Mazuz until Monday afternoon to respond to two petitions filed by women's rights groups, asking the court to issue an interim order to stop the approval process of the plea bargain that ensured Katsav would not go to prison for a series of sex offenses.
"The extreme lack of reasonableness in [Attorney General Menachem] Mazuz's decision," the petition states, "stems from the fact that he backtracked on his original intention to indict the president with more serious accusations, including rape and serious indecent acts."
The petitions also stated that the decision was made "without the Attorney General receiving new evidence that could destroy the evidentiary basis that led him shortly beforehand to decide to issue the indictment, including very serious charges."
The petitions were submitted by the Movement for Quality Government; the Israel Women's Network; Itach, a women's social action association; and the umbrella organization The Women's Coalition.
A third petition was submitted to the High Court by one of the main complainants in the case, A., whose rape accusations were deleted from Katsav's indictment. In her petition, A. seeks to include the crimes allegedly committed against her in the future indictment.
Meanwhile, Israel Radio reported Sunday that the State Prosecution is expected to submit its indictment Sunday morning.
As the agreed draft is scheduled to be presented in court, the Justice Ministry has come under pressure to release the January 23 draft indictment against Katsav, citing the original charges Attorney General Menachem Mazuz had planned to include before Katsav's hearing and the subsequent plea bargain, a Justice Ministry official said Saturday.
However, Mazuz refused a request made by Haaretz Saturday to release the draft indictment now, in order to publicly reveal the extent of the concessions the State Prosecutor's office made to Katsav during negotiations over the plea bargain.
Katsav tendered his resignation Friday to Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik in a letter that made no mention of the criminal case. "My term in office ends according to law on July 14, 2007. However, I request to move up the end of my term by two weeks and announce my resignation." Katsav's resignation is to take effect this morning. Immediately thereafter the Jerusalem State Prosecutor's office will issue the amended indictment to the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court.
An individual who participated in the negotiations for the plea bargain said State Prosecutor Eran Shendar was opposed to the deal with Katsav, since Shendar insisted that the proper sentence should be imprisonment.
However, the Justice Ministry spokesman on Saturday said the state prosecutor denied this was the case, and stated that the ministry's entire senior staff had agreed on the need to sign the agreement. A third party involved in the negotiations said Shendar had not objected, but had instead been actively involved in the agreement's details.
Both Mazuz and Shendar warned Katsav over the weekend that if he did not confess unequivocably in court to the offenses in the amended indictment, the deal would be off. In such a case the original indictment might be invoked, including two rape charges.
"Outside the courtroom anybody can say what they want," Mazuz told Channel 2's "Meet the Press," "but if the president does not stand before the court and say clearly that he confesses, there will be no deal. An indecent act is not a hug or a caress," he said.
"The court will find out from the accused whether he understands what he is confessing to and if it is clear to him that he will be convicted of a crime."
Mazuz added that, "We met with the president and made it clear to him that there is an individual who has for years behaved like a serial sexual offender. But the greatest difficulty is the offenses to which the statue of limitations applies."
In interviews to Army Radio and Israel Radio, Shendar said, "If Katsav does not stand before the court and say that, indeed, for more than a year he committed the acts described in the indictment, but instead states that he wants to make things easier for his family and that these things never happened, there will be no plea bargain."
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Former president Moshe Katsav leaving his Kiryat Malachi home on Friday. (AP) |
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This is a pretty bad situation for all parties involved. Things will completely go out of hand if the state takes Katsav to task in a court of law and fails to prove its case against him. The impact will be a tremendous blow to the judicial system. Yet on the other hand Mr. Katsav must not get a free ride at the expense of the complainant. So What could Mazuz do risk criticism now or possible failure failure later on?
On his website President Katsav says he had three goals when entering office. The thrid was: "To provide for the needs of the weaker members of society." From her interviews "A" certainly shows her self to be amongst the weaker members of society and our Moshe provided for her. Another Presidential success story! No?
Stringing us out for months and then sneaking in the reprieve! Didgusting! Obscene! Mazuz should be forced out of office: he would appear so moral and righteous but he chooses to ignore law and justice when it suits him.
According to Dov #3: "......Aleph`s testimony was contrived. Fraudulent, and deliberate......" Yet for tens of thousands of Israelis and others, A's public testimony was heart-rending, completely genuine and absolutely convincing. Some were able to identify with her from personal experience. It was also tragic to behold how a young life was potentially ruined by the repeated lewd deeds of none other than the so-called president of the State of Israel. Nevertheless, in a court of law there is no doubt that the battery of criminal lawyers employed by Katsav would attempt to savage the tstimony of A in the style that Dov as displayed.
If Katsav had revealed one iota of repentance somewhere along the way, it may have been possible for Mazuz to get the plea-bargain grudgingly accepted by the courts and the populace. However, as things stand today, with no apologies and no public repentance and not a sign of humility, the future looks grim for Katsav.
Presumably if the plea bargain is set aside, President Katsav's resignation will also be rolled back and he will be our President again.
Katsav may know too much to be put behind bars in the general population, but that does not mean he should be allowed to roam free assaulting women while proclaiming his innocence. Any plea bargain deal with Katsav should require the dirty bastard to wear an electronic ankle braclet and be confined to his house for years to come.
A boss hugging and kissing his female employees is NOT "all well". It's not okay. It's not just illegal - those kinds of actions objectify women in the work place as objects of sex or affection, rather than professional colleagues. And for #7 - it is your right to believe Katzav. Will you also believe he is telling the truth when he pleads guilty?
It's getting worse all the time. We have become just another banana republic. What's the difference between those brutal, raping and steeling dictators in some african, arab and south american countries and the president, prime minister and other officials in Israel? If you hold some position of power, you can do as you please. Disgusting. Makes me sick to the bone and I can only hope, the courts will decide not to accept the plea bargain...
Sharon Jr, Olmert, Ramon, Blumenthal, Hirchson, Katsav, Peres. Safe as houses with a man like Mazuz in their pocket.
No politician enjoys having the crimes of other politicians appear in the media. It makes them nervous for some reason. Also, considering Katsav's position, he likely knows where a few political scandals are buried. This sort of valuable information can cause prosecutors to be "less than enthusiastic" about pursuing justice. The fix is obviously in for Katsav. The only problem which remains is riding out the public outrage.
I don't find Katzav particularly trustworthy, but Mazuz's credibility is even lower. Mazuz first announced to the entire nation that he had evidence to charge Katzav with rape, and then failed to deliver such an indictment. His excuse that he dropped the charge in order to "spare the nation" is even more laughable and pathetic than Katzav's claim that he agreed to the plea bargain to "spare his family". Mazuz and Katav are both filthy, corrupt politicians. There is no objective reason to trust either one over the other.
This outcome was to be expected. Has this been citizen Joe he would be behind bars where he belongs. This verdict is sending a very dangerous message not only in the atmosphere of corruption that rules Israel these days but also for victims of sex crimes. The message is dont even bother reporting sex crimes as you are waisting your time and in Israel this kind of thing goes on all the time. Katsav is a sex monster and a liar that needs to be behind bars.
What is far more detrimental to the Land of Israel is the wholesale desecration of the Shabbat that goes on and the raising of unclean animals in the Holy Land. Reb Moshe Katsav was one man and if he did wrong he should be helped to repent for his sins. But what is the State of Israel doing to repent?
Is he.....? Ahmadinejad can be proud!
'Hugging and kissing' is all very well, except that it was not ALL Katsav did. This distasteful and incorrigible man happened to be the PRESIDENT of a country where it is a Priority for the President to be a personage of a high moral, virtuous and stainless character, an Example..... and Katsav knowing this, acted contrary to what was needed from him and that which was indeed detrimental to the Country which he was meant to serve. Thus Katsav's Guilt is not just onefold but manyfold.
Why is the integrity of AG Mazuz being disparaged? Those elements who are now treating him like dirt are the same groups and individuals who praised his appointment. It is abundantly clear from reading the interviews given by President's Office "A", both in Israel and to the London Sunday Times, that she has a vivid mind. AG Mazuz has reached the conclusion, having no doubt very, very carefully studied the evidence that this is not a case to prosecute. That is his responsibility. If one of your disenchanted workers accused you of raping her, repeatedly, even though she never complained to any third party, would you want the AG to prosecute you just because she said so, even if her testimony was, as AG Mazuz said "problematic, self-contradictory, and contradictory of other complainants' testimonies"? Not every complaint to the Police results in a prosecution. It is not as though Mr. Katsav has exactly got off free either. He was the President; he will soon be a convicted criminal.
"I believe Katzav!!" Good news, EGW...the Easter Bunny is getting married to the Tooth Fairy, and you're invited! There's an invitation winging its way to you right now.
this is not about whether Katsav is guilty or not. he is of course guilty. the problem is with proving it. Mazuz explained the problems with the statute of limitation etc so you don't need me to. I do not have a major problem with the plea bargain. If he admits to the charges the court can still sentence him to (I believe) up to 7 years in jail for being a sex offender. The suspended sentence is simply a recommendation and it is the court that decides on the sentencing. There is also selling pardons, selling gifts, tapping phones etc. And you defend this man ?! Mike
Thank you for your input.
I believe, from the evidence supplied by A herslf, that it is false, NO ONEcan tell me that a girl, told to work in a dress with no underwear, would just do it and submit. All she had to say was, "If you don't stop, I'll call out" or "I'll tell". She's VERY BRAVE NOW, isn't she?? And all the "acts", tumbling over themselves to be heard, were committed in PUBLIC places where anyone could walk in??? Who's fooling whom?? Mazuz himself said that he wouldn't get conviction on rape but included them as "pressure" to make Katzav admit conviction and resign. Lawyers include 25 different things for ONE SINGLE offence...... I believe Katzav!! Why shouldn't he hug a girl on her birthday, or kiss her on the neck during a celebration?? He's not "The King of Siam" just an ordinary Israeli. And he knows this.
The callous and immoral character Katsav now pleads for 'his family'!.... whom he should have thought of a long while back when he began with his sexual exploits. The man is nothing but a weasel and actually should be locked up for the rest of his life.
This arrogant, objectionable and immoral personality named Katsav has to accept a punishment that fits his crimes and nothing less than a jail sentence in addition with psychiatric treatment to cure this very sick man. Katsav has been a blight on the name of Israel.
equal justice for all. mazuz wants to lynch haim ramon for a simple kiss, a one-time mistake, and strikes a sweetheart deal for katsav, a serial scumbag if ever there was one. and even admitting in court is not enough, he and the rest of his slimy gang -- including his two shyster lawyers and his revolting molester of a brother, will try to weasel out in public, saying he pleaded guilty for his family and didn't really mean it, that he did so because the lawyers are so expensive, and that all he was convicted of was a hug and maybe a pinch. the writer who said that he should be judged on the evidence is right -- katsav should stand trial, and let the whole world, or at least the whole country, hear what he is like. if that is not enough to convict him, so be it. but he should not be given the easy way out. he's a replusive piece of slime, and he should be branded as such.
The evidence is what is important. Not general outrage by angry women becuase someone stands accused. Mazuz had good reason to question that witness Aleph's testimony was contrived. Fraudulent, and deliberate. An attorney must go by the facts of the witnesses, including the defendant's confession. Everyone knows Katsav was disliked (rightly so) for refusing to shake hands with Reform and Conservative Rabbis, inappropriate for an Israeli President. Mazuz is not an idiot or a misogynist. He will prosecute what he can. There are definitely things not being said here. But it could range more widely to the side of saying the charges brought were false, and why. Mazuz has as much responsibility to determine that, as well as whether he can successfully prosecute.
Protest do not allow Womens rights to be trampled!
Without laws there is no country, just an entity. This decisions didn't just take justice away from the women of Israel, but it took Israel away from us all.