Court Sentences Former Israeli President To 7 Years in Prison
 

By the CNN Wire Staff
March 22, 2011 5:45 a.m. EDT

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Former Israeli president Moshe Katsav (C) arrives at the district court in Tel Aviv on March 22, 2011.


(CNN) -- A Tel Aviv district court Tuesday sentenced former Israeli president Moshe Katsav to seven years in prison on multiple charges of rape and sexual harassment.
The case involved three women -- two in the president's office and one in the tourism ministry.
In late December, the three-judge panel found Katsav guilty of two charges of rape, two charges of forceful sexual harassment and one charge of sexual harassment.
Katsav had agreed in 2007 to plead guilty to lesser charges and pay a fine to avoid jail time, but pulled out of the deal when it came time to enter his plea.
The plea bargain caused a public storm in Israel, mainly because it did not include charges of rape, contrary to what had been suggested in a draft indictment.
Katsav, of the center-right Likud Party, was president of Israel from 2000 to 2007. He was minister of tourism before that. The charges stem from allegations made against him in both jobs.
He resigned the presidency in June 2007 because of the sexual assault allegations.
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