Moshe Katsav, Former Israeli President Jailed For Rape, May Commit Suicide: Lawyer

JERUSALEM -- A lawyer for a former Israeli president convicted of rape said Thursday he fears his client may commit suicide if forced to serve his seven-year sentence.

Defense attorney Zion Amir told The Associated Press that Moshe Katsav – who denies all wrongdoing – thinks his conviction and sentencing dealt him a grave injustice.

The former president is due to enter prison on May 8. His defense team plans to appeal the sentence.

Amir noted Katsav's "frustration, pain and despair," and when asked whether the former president might take his own life, the attorney replied: "I had a strong foreboding about that when they were reading the sentence."

At Tuesday's sentencing, the 65-year-old Katsav broke down in tears and screamed at the judges: "You have committed an injustice! The verdict is untrue. It is a lie. The lies have won!"

Katsav is Israel's highest-ranking official ever sentenced to prison.

In December, he was convicted of raping a former employee, sexually harassing two other women, as well as committing indecent acts and obstruction of justice. The rape occurred when he served as tourism minister in the 1990s, and other crimes were committed after he became president in 2000.

The judges called Katsav "manipulative" and said he lied in his testimony.

Comments

[BestGuest]

09:07 AM on 03/25/2011

My guess... won't serve a day!

[duxguts]

04:35 AM on 03/25/2011

Oh well then, better let him go I guess.

[KirkPowers]

02:44 AM on 03/25/2011

i guess he will need to serve his sentence in a straight jacket to protect himself... oh well...

[tobiasaurusrex]

01:57 AM on 03/25/2011

Aw, poor guy, couldn't take it when the ladies resisted his Jedi mind tricks. If they let him out, they have to make prison voluntary for everyone (not just the wealthy and well connected).

[HarryP]

01:48 AM on 03/25/2011

can you say coward?

[Osapient1]

01:29 AM on 03/25/2011

Just do not take his clothes, some here consider that t0r.ture...

[Adam616]

01:08 AM on 03/25/2011

Give that man some rope.

[StanMann]

10:40 PM on 03/24/2011

Bullies can never can having to pay for their wrong doing ... harassing women, and raping women.

Bet he harassed some men too!

[StanMann]

10:42 PM on 03/24/2011

:-) rewrite: bullies never LIKE having to pay for their wrong doing.......

[StanMann]

10:38 PM on 03/24/2011

So what? Oh, he gets to rape women then cry he is going to kill himself……

[waldopepper]

10:17 PM on 03/24/2011

If you want to make an omelette.

[patman77]

08:10 PM on 03/24/2011

so put him in general population and someone else will do it for him.

[CraigVale]

07:45 PM on 03/24/2011

He'd be doing his nation a favor .

[thepoliticalcat]

07:37 PM on 03/24/2011

Sounds like an excellent idea! It might even save the American taxpayer some money! Wut? We all know Israel is not financially self-sufficient, it's our tax money supporting them, even their criminals. Let's be honest about it.

[Amryxx]

07:10 PM on 03/24/2011

"he fears his client may commit suicide if forced to serve his seven-year sentence."

And nothing of value is lost.

[m1jones]

07:09 PM on 03/24/2011

How did the women he raped feel? He deserves no mercy. 5 years is a short prison term for this criminal who abused his power. Killing himself would save the Israelis the cost of imprisoning him.