Troughboy's World

Troughboy has a mind of his own. He's open to new experiences but is sometimes a bit conservative. He believes in honesty, loyalty and justice.

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Location: Cidade Maravilhosa, Not Rio de Janeiro

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Friday, December 31, 2010

In The Land of the Chosen Ones...


Former Israeli president guilty of rape
December 31, 2010 - SMH
TEL AVIV: The former Israeli president Moshe Katsav faces at least eight years' jail after he was convicted of two counts of rape for assaulting a former employee, in what the Prime Minister called ''a sad day for Israel''.
The verdict, which also found Katsav guilty of sexually harassing a second employee, caps a four-year process in which the former president resigned his post and spurned a plea deal that would have cleared him of the rape charges.
As the presiding judge, George Kara, read the verdict, he said Katsav had ''engaged in a campaign of vilification against the plaintiffs''.
He told Katsav that his decision to nullify a plea deal ''was a grave mistake''.
''We believe the plaintiff [who accused Katsav of rape] because her testimony is supported by elements of evidence and she told the truth,'' the judge said.
As the verdict was read before a packed courtroom, Katsav, 65, stood visibly distraught and muttered: ''No, no.'' His sons in the courtroom yelled, ''It's not true, it's not true''.
The rape charges each carry a sentence of between four and 16 years in prison.
In addition to them Katsav faced accusations of sexual harassment, indecent acts, harassing witnesses and obstructing justice. The sentence will be announced at a later date.
The Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said in a text message: ''The court today delivered two clear messages, one being that everyone is equal in the eyes of the law and the second the right of every woman to be in control of her own body.''
Katsav was elected to the Knesset in 1977 as a member of the Likud party and served as an MP until he became president in 2000. He stepped down as president, a mainly ceremonial position, in January 2007 after the then attorney-general, Menachem Mazuz, first said that there was evidence for an indictment. Katsav was replaced by Shimon Peres.
Katsav was the second Israeli president in a row to leave office prematurely. Ezer Weizman stepped down in 2000 following revelations that he received money from business associates without reporting it to the authorities.
Since 2008 Israeli courts have indicted the former prime minister Ehud Olmert for fraud, sentenced theformer finance minister Avraham Hirschson to five years' jail for theft and money laundering, and convicted the former health minister Shlomo Benizri of taking bribes.
Agence France-Presse, Bloomberg