Israeli ex-president escapes plea bargain rejection
Moshe Katsav resigned in disgrace last year
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Tuesday, 26, Feb 2008 10:12
Disgraced former Israeli president Moshe Katsav has survived an attempt to have his plea bargain on sexual harassment charges overturned.
Three of Israel's supreme court panel voted in favour of rejecting petitions calling for the plea bargain to be overturned, while two called for them to be upheld.
Today's result means Mr Katsav, forced to resign over the scandal in June last year after 'suspending himself' in January 2007, escapes jail and instead faces a suspended prison sentence and damages payments.
Under the terms of the plea bargain he must admit several counts of sexual harassment and indecent acts without consent.
Women's rights groups had challenged the plea bargain after what the Jerusalem Post described as a "huge gap" between the final and draft indictments.
The latter had included two counts of rape, each carrying a sentence of up to 16 years in prison, the newspaper reports.
Supporters of Mr Katsav, who was replaced by elder statesman Shimon Peres, have expressed regret at the 61-year-old's persecution.
His attorney Zion Amir said: "This is not a victory. This is a sad day.
"After all, the former president went through a lot to reach this point. From the start, I think the petitions were unnecessary."