VERED LUVITCH

TEL AVIV — The Tel Aviv District Court has allowed partial records detailing the opening arguments of both the prosecution and the defence in the Katsav case to be published.

Former Israeli President Moshe Katsav is facing multiple charges of sexual harassment and rape against former female employees of the Office of the President and the Tourism Ministry.

The trial was ruled a closed-door proceeding. The majority of testimonies and evidence presented to the court are likely to remain sealed.

The State’s opening argument on Monday described how Katsav abused his high-ranking positions to systematically molest his subordinates, while ensuring they remain silent.

“The State will prove that the defendant systematically used his position to allure his employees, pay them special interest, flatter them and make each of them feel as if they were ‘chosen’ by the ‘big boss,’” said the prosecution.

“(The defendant) arranged a system meant to ensure their silence… both he and his associates would document (the plaintiffs), sometimes for years, expressing their supposed desire to continue their relationship with him… for the sole purpose of having an alibi in wait, should judgment day arrive.”

“The defendant is not the typical, aggressive rapist, who holds a knife to his victim’s throat in some dark alley. He did not need any physical strength to overpower the plaintiffs -– all he had to do was use the force of his position, but when he thought that a little brutality would ensure their consent to his actions as well as their silence – he did not hesitate to use it.”

Many of the women who fell prey to Katsav will take the stand, as well as the three plaintiffs, the State’s opening argument concluded.

The defence claimed that the prosecution was trying to demonise the former president.

“We object to the State’s attempt to demonise the defendant by alluding to the existence of a ’systematic method’ and by painting the plaintiffs as submissive,” said the defence’s opening argument.

“This trial will be as any other trial. The witnesses will take the stand, they will be cross examined and they will have to explain to the court, in their own words, why they said certain things to the police, why the officers who questioned them deemed them untruthful, and why their testimonies contradict objective physical findings such as letters and recordings.”

Attorney Avigdor Feldman, who heads the former president’s defence team, also slammed the prosecution’s intent to have a physiatrist testify that Katsav’s behavior allegedly fits that of a serial sex offender.

Ynetnews