ISRAEL:Israeli prosecutors postponed a plea bargain deal with former president Moshe Katsav yesterday after public watchdog groups that want him tried for sexual misconduct appealed to the Supreme Court, officials said.
Katsav, who resigned under a deal that attorney general Menachem Mazuz announced on Thursday, was to have confessed to committing indecent acts and sexually harassing female employees, and receive a suspended prison sentence. The plea bargain drew protests from Israelis who had expected Mr Katsav to be prosecuted on more serious charges, and possibly jailed, after Mr Mazuz said in January that there might be evidence he committed rape. Thousands demonstrated in Tel Aviv on Saturday, demanding Mr Katsav be put on trial. The protest was organised by women's rights activists.
A spokesman for Mr Mazuz said the attorney general decided to delay filing the indictment on Sunday after an anti-corruption lobby and women's groups lodged Supreme Court petitions arguing the plea bargain made Katsav appear to be "above the law". The court, which is authorised to overrule Mr Mazuz, ordered him to defend his decision not to go to trial.