Former Israeli president to be jailed

Former Israeli president Moshe Katsav is due to begin a 7-year jail sentence today after being convicted on two counts of rape.

66-year old Katsav was found guilty a year ago but was allowed to live at home with his wife while he appealed the conviction. The Supreme Court upheld the verdict but he maintains that he is innocent.

“Today in the state of Israel, they are executing a man, based on impressions, without testimonies from the actual events, without evidence.”

He’ll serve his sentence at Maatsiyahu low-security prison and the Israeli government says he’ll be kept under the same conditions as other prisoners at the jail.

Katsav is the first former Israeli head of state to be jailed.

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