Police Chief: Katsav Probe Is Over

Police Commissioner Moshe Karadi said Friday that "the investigation of the president has ended." Speaking during a tour of the Tel Aviv District ahead of the holiday.

Karadi added that once the investigation of several supplementary points had been completed, the case was expected to be transferred to the Jerusalem District Prosecutor's Office this week.

Officials there will decide whether there is sufficient evidence to indict President Moshe Katsav on three fronts: allegations of sex offenses, improprieties in granting clemencies and wiretapping employees' phone calls. As far as is known, the police uncovered enough evidence to substantiate all three aspects of the case, but the prosecution will have to examine whether the evidence gathered is sufficient for filing an indictment.

The sex-crime allegations center on a complaint by a former President's Residence employee, known as A., who claims that Katsav used force and threats to compel her to have sex with him on three occasions in his office. Investigators collected another seven complaints from women who had formerly worked alongside Katsav and told police he had sexually harassed them.

Some of the women described incidents that could be defined as rape, while others described apparent sexual harassment. The statute of limitations has expired on most of these complaints, but three evidently remain valid.

Regarding the clemency process, police investigated the free access that several Katzav associates were given to clemency files in the archives of the President's Residence, and their influence in advancing particular applications.

The third aspect of the case is allegations by a former chief of security at the President's Residence that a system was installed to eavesdrop on employee phone calls.