Former President Moshe Katsav, who is serving a prison term after being convicted on charges of assaults against women, is likely to be released this month, Channel 10 News reported.
Katsav, Israel’s eighth president, is hopeful the parole board will reduce his sentence by one-third as is customary. Having served five years of his seven-year sentence parole board approval would likely lead to his immediate release.
The report quotes Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked telling colleagues there is no reason the parole board would not clear a third from his sentence for good behavior since he meets the criteria for such a decision. Shaked is quoted saying in the event the parole board does not release him, she would back presidential pardon for Katsav.
Correspondent Ayelet Hasson adds that contrary to the clemency process, a parole board decision does not require a confession or repentance so early release by the parole board would be far simpler for Mr. Katsav since to date he has maintained his innocence.
MK (Machane Tzioni) Merav Michaeli warns that the nation should be cognizant of the fact that the former president has never accepted responsibility for his actions for he maintains his innocence. Hence, there has been no expression of remorse and therefore, the president cannot pardon him.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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One Response
If he takes his kippa off, that would help him with Michaeli and her ilk. Katzav has never accepted “responsibility for his actions” because he says he is innocent. He could have taken a plea bargain and stayed out of jail but he did not because he was not prepared to plead guilty to something he is innocent of. The job of the parole board is not to drag a confession out of him, it is to grant a prisoner who has behaved in prison an early release.