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Amended indictment against former Israeli president filed

By Xinhua

Jerusalem : Israel’s State Prosecutor’s Office filed an amended indictment on Thursday against former President Moshe Katsav with the Jerusalem Magistrates’ Court, local media reported.

The indictment is based on a plea bargain reached between Katsav’s attorneys and the state in late June 2007, which was endorsed by the High Court on Tuesday.

Prosecutors charged Katsav with performing indecent acts while using coercive measures, sexual harassment and badgering a witness.

The amended indictment also charged him with relatively minor sexual offenses – a far cry from the original case, which carried charges of sexual assault and harassment, according to local media.

The Jerusalem Magistrates’ Court is expected to hear the case with a special, three-judge panel presiding, said local media.

Israel’s Attorney General Menachem Mazuz decided to proceed with filing the indictment, despite requests by The Movement for Quality Government in Israel and the Israel Women’s Network to delay it, allowing them to file a motion for a special, enlarged High Court panel to hear petitions against the plea bargain.

Should the Jerusalem Magistrates’ Court grant the plea, Katsav will not serve any jail time, local media said, adding that the court must further decide whether or not Katsav should also be charged with moral turpitude.

The State Prosecutor’s Office has announced it will ask the court to include the charge, which will prevent the former president from taking an active part in public life.

Katsav’s attorneys, however, was quoted as saying that any such charge will cause them to renege on the plea.

Several women’s organizations have expressed their disappointment over the High Court’s ruling and have begun preparing for a series of protests.

The first protest rally was staged in Tel Aviv Wednesday night, as hundreds of people marched from Rabin Square to the State Prosecutor’s Tel Aviv bureau.

During the rally, protestors waved signs reading “Sexual Offenses – a social phenomenon” and “Moral turpitude now – no to Katsav deal.”