Court rejects ex-president’s jail plea

Israel’s Supreme Court has ordered former president Moshe Katsav to spend seven years in prison after rejecting the disgraced politician’s appeal against a rape conviction and other sex crimes.

The unanimous decision of the three-judge panel capped a long and sordid chapter in Israeli politics that captured the country’s attention for more than five years.

Katsav, who will start his sentence on 7 December, becomes the highest-ranking Israeli official ever sent to prison.

Katsav, who has proclaimed his innocence throughout, sat stony-faced during yesterday’s ruling, briefly smiling wryly as it became clear his appeal was being rejected.

He left the court grim-faced, surrounded by supporters.

Katsav, 65, was convicted last December of raping a former employee when he was a cabinet minister. He was also found guilty of sexually harassing two other women during his term as president from 2000 to 2007. He received a seven-year prison sentence in March, but was allowed to stay out of jail pending his appeal.

The court had not been expected to overturn the conviction, though experts had said there was a chance the sentence would be revised.

Reading their opinions, the judges said Katsav’s testimony had not been credible and accused him of exploiting his status as a high public official.