Former Israeli President Moshe Katsav Convicted

Former President of Israel Moshe Katsav has been found guilty of rape by a court in Tel Aviv. He had faced two allegations of rape by an employee when he was tourism minister in the 1990s. He was also accused of later sexual offences.

Katsav, 65, likely faces from four to 16 years in prison for the crimes, which included two counts of raping an employee in 1998 when he was tourism minister and lesser counts of indecent acts and sexual harassment involving two other women who worked for him when he was president.

The judges said they believed the evidence of Woman A, whose testimony had led to both charges of rape.

Katsav's case initially broke in 2006, when the then-president complained that a female employee was extorting him. The woman then went to police with her side of the story, detailing a series of sexual assaults and prompting other women to come forward with similar complaints.

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