Police question president of Isrtael in a rape case, evidence against him 'dramatic'

By Yuval Yoaz, Jonathan Lis, and Amiram Barkat, Haaretz Correspondents

Police detectives questioned President Moshe Katsav Wednesday morning, after investigators raided both the President's Residence and Katsav's private office Monday night.

A senior police official told Haaretz that "the material that has been compiled thus far in the affair is more significant and dramatic than that which has been made public in the media.

The police questioning began at about 10 A.M. The Wednesday session, expected to last for some five hours, will not be the last, sources close to the investigation said. Additional sessions are to take place in the coming months.

Katsav is being questioned "under caution," a legal term indicating that the subject of the investigation is a suspect, and that there is a significant chance that he may later face indictment.

During the Monday raid, which began at about 9 P.M. and lasted seven hours, police confiscated Katsav's personal computer, his office computer, several other computers and numerous documents.

Attorney General Menachem Mazuz approved the police's request to question Katsav under caution, thereby officially designating him a suspect in an affair that began with him in the role of victim.

Mazuz opened the investigation after Katsav told him that a former employee, A., was trying to blackmail him. However, the probe soon moved on to investigating two complaints made by A. against Katsav: that he forced her to have sex with him by threatening to fire her if she refused, and that there were improprieties in his process of granting pardons to prisoners.

Police sources said that the documents seized during Monday's raid, as well as the email correspondence on the computers, may help them determine the nature of Katsav's relations with A., as well as whether any employees of the President's Residence have attempted to sabotage the investigation. However, they do not expect this material to cast any light on the pardons affair.

The raid, they added, was planned several weeks ago.

Wednesday's interrogation, which is taking place in the President's Residence, is expected to focus mainly on the sexual harassment allegation, but will also touch on the pardons. In media interviews over the past few weeks, Katsav has repeatedly denied having sexual relations with any employee of his office.

Police sources said that Katsav's wife, Gila, is also likely to be questioned in the coming days. In addition, depending on the results of today's interrogation, the police may stage a confrontation between the president and A.

To date, dozens of employees of the President's Residence have been questioned, but the investigation is expected to take several more months. According to a source familiar with the probe, "this is not a small case, but a ramified one whose investigation will last a long time. This probe is more complicated than it seemed initially."

A senior police official added: "The information that has accumulated in this affair thus far is more significant and dramatic than has been published in the media."

Katsav's office said in response that "the President's Residence announced from the start that it would cooperate with the investigation. Every document and bit of evidence is at the police's disposal for the sake of uncovering the truth. The president is interested in giving his version and proving the falsity of these grave leaks."

In addition, Katsav's lawyers, David Libai and Zion Amir, demanded that the police give the media access to a tape that Katsav made of a conversation between himself and A., saying that this was only fair now that A.'s version of the story has been leaked to the press. The lawyers said that the tape, which Katsav gave the police a few days ago, proves that A.'s alleged extortion attempt had nothing to do with sexual harassment.

They also demanded that Mazuz investigate "the source of the numerous and tendentious leaks from the police investigation." Finally, they protested the description of the police's Monday visit to the President's Residence as a "raid," saying: "The residence's doors are always open" to the police.

Sources in Mazuz's office Tuesday rejected speculation that the case might be closed if Katsav were to resign and retire from public life. In light of the gravity of the suspicions against him, they said, there is a clear public interest in continuing the probe.

Even if Katsav does not resign, however, the Knesset could begin proceedings to oust him, a development, Katsav's lawyers charged, that the leaks from the investigation are aimed at promoting. According to the Basic Law on the President, the Knesset may oust the president if "he is unfit to serve due to behavior unbecoming to his position as president of the state."

By law, such a process would begin with a complaint to the Knesset House Committee signed by at least 20 Knesset members. The House Committee would then have to approve the motion by a three-quarters majority. If it did, the motion would be sent to the full Knesset, which would have to approve it by a special majority of at least 90 MKs.

Should Katsav either resign or be ousted, his place would be filled by Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik until a replacement is elected. Alternatively, Katsav could suspend himself temporarily on the grounds that he is "unable to fulfill his duties." Such a suspension, which requires approval by the Knesset House Committee, would be valid for a maximum of three months, but could then be renewed for an additional three months. In that case, too, Itzik would replace Katsav until he returned.

Should the police find sufficient evidence to indict Katsav, it may not be possible to do so immediately: A sitting president cannot be indicted, and even after he leaves office, he remains exempt from prosecution for any act carried out "in the fulfillment of his duties." However, Justice Ministry sources said that a claim that Katsav's suspected offenses were carried out "in the fulfillment of his duties" would not stand up in court.