Moshe Katsav Asks for Pardon in Rape
Former Israeli President Moshe Katsav has filed a request for a presidential pardon.
Katsav filed the request with the Justice Ministry. It will be forwarded to sitting President Shimon Peres.
Katsav is currently serving a seven-year jail sentence for his conviction on two counts of rape and other sexual offenses. He entered prison in December.
His petition reportedly asks for a pardon so that he can appeal the conviction and clear his name from outside of prison. It also says that Katsav did not get a fair trial and that having to resign as president was punishment enough.
He reportedly has not expressed remorse for his crime, necessary for receiving a pardon.
Prisoners convicted of rape and other sexual violence must first undergo a rehabilitation program, in which Katsav is currently not participating, according to Haaretz. Katsav’s appeal as currently tendered likely will be rejected by Peres.
Katsav, who immigrated to Israel from Iran in 1951, was elected president by the Knesset in 2000 in an upset over Shimon Peres. Katsav resigned in the wake of the allegations shortly before the end of his term in 2007, and Peres became president.
Katsav, 65, is the first Israeli president ever sentenced to prison. Israel’s Supreme Court upheld Katsav’s rape conviction and prison sentence last November.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30