国际英语新闻：Former Israeli president to face rape charges

JERUSALEM, March 8 (Xinhua) -- Israel's Justice Ministry on Sunday announced that former President Moshe Katsav will be indicted for rape and other sexual offenses.

    The move, which will turn Katsav, 63, into the first Israeli head of state to stand on trial, followed a spate of headline-making accusations by a number of women who worked under Katsav when he was tourism minister and president.

    In the center is a female employee in the Tourism Ministry, known as Complainant A. Katsav reported to the police in 2006 that she attempted to blackmail him, yet the woman later made a countercharge that Katsav raped her.

    Following a lengthy series of probes, Attorney General Menachem Mazuz and State Prosecutor Moshe Lador decided that "an indictment will be submitted against Moshe Katsav for sexual offenses against several women who worked closely with him when he served as Tourism Minister and as President," said the Justice Ministry in a statement.

    "The indictment will include, among others, charges of rape and indecent assault against Complainant A from the Tourism Ministry and of obstruction of justice," added the statement.

    The decision was taken after Mazuz and Lador concluded that "the complainants' version was credible and that the file contained an evidentiary basis that was sufficiently established for the submission of an indictment and that there was a reasonable possibility of conviction," continued the statement.

    Earlier in the day, the State Prosecutor's Office also said that both Mazuz and Lador "have come to the clear conclusion that there was sufficient evidence to support a criminal indictment and secure a conviction."

    Many of the offenses took place several years ago, and thus the State Prosecutor's Office has to reassess and reinvestigate some of the charges, said the office, when explaining the long delay of the indictment.

    "Complainant A is pleased with the decision and welcomes the police and prosecution's confidence in her claim. I have no doubt that the court will demonstrate the same faith and will see that justice is done," said her lawyer Danny Srur in response.

    The decision, announced on the International Women's Day, also received a unanimous welcome from women's groups in the Jewish state, which pledge to "keep on fighting until justice is served in full."

    Meanwhile, Ronen Tsur, Katsav's media advisor downplayed the decision, telling local daily The Jerusalem Post that the former president is "happy for the chance to prove his innocence in a court of law."

    Returning fire at Mazuz, the aide added that "for the first time in Israel, the attorney-general has decided to charge a man when he is not certain that the man is actually guilty and when the evidence does not support it."

    In the midst of roaring condemnation and increasing calls for his resignation, Katsav reached a plea bargain with Mazuz in June 2007, which dropped the rape charge but required him to step down and admit sexual harassment and some other lesser offenses. The deal, which allowed him to avoid jail time, draw fire from women's groups and many others for being too lenient.

    A month later, Katsav stepped down as required by the plea bargain, just weeks before his term expired, and was replaced by current President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shimon Peres.

    Yet in a dramatic turn, the former president reneged on the deal in April 2008 and announced that he would prefer a trial, which prompted Mazuz to resume the legal process against him on the basis of the severest charges.