Tourism Ministry Aleph satisfied by Katsav court decision
Also reacting to former-president's sentence, Aleph from Beit Hanassi says it should have been doubled if other women were considered.
By JPOST.COM STAFFFormer president Moshe Katsav at Supreme Court 311 (R)(photo credit: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun)
Aleph, the rape victim who brought sexual assault charges against former-president Moshe Katsav, expressed her satisfaction with the Supreme Court decision denying his appeal on Thursday."The severity of the punishment is not as important as the decision," Aleph, who remains anonymous, said from the Tourism Ministry. Katsav will begin a seven-year prison sentence in December.RELATED:Supreme Court upholds Katsav's 7-year rape sentenceKatsav defense attorney: Supreme Court is biasedAleph also encouraged other women who have been victims of sexual assault to speak up. "I hope that women are not afraid to complain," she said.Aleph's lawyer added that Katsav's punishment was appropriate. "Now the criminal process has finally come to an end, the court has ruled, and the person who hurt her has received the punishment he deserved."Also reacting to the sentence, Aleph from Beit Hanassi said Thursday that Katsav should have got double the sentence.Aleph, who worked for Katsav during his term as president was the one who first brought the president’s wrongdoing to light, but controversially was not included in the final indictment against the former president.
Katsav's sentence's should be "doubled and re-doubled", if all the women affected by the former president were taken into account.The panel of Supreme Court justices rejected all of the former president's defenses in the rape case on Thursday, upholding Katsav's seven-year prison sentence."A deep sadness falls over the State of Israel because a person who was a minister in the government, the deputy prime minister and the president of the country carried out these acts," the ruling read.
"The hardest thing of all is to see that the person who used to be the symbol of the land of Israel is going to prison."Ron Friedman contributed to this report
