The High Court of Justice has demanded the government present the original draft of the preliminary rape charges in the sexual assault case against former President Moshe Katzav.
The panel of justices hearing the case includes Court President Dorit Beinish, Deputy Supreme Court President Eliezer Rivlin, and Judges Ayala Procaccia, Edmond Levi and Asher Grunis.
The court began a hearing on Tuesday on six petitions filed by women’s groups and complainants demanding the court void a plea agreement signed between Attorney General Menachem Mazuz and Katzav.
The former president lashed out at critics last year, denying that he was guilty of any sexual offenses. He has now agreed to admit guilt in several lesser charges in exchange for the state dropping the charge of rape, which carries a seven-year prison sentence. The plea bargain is subject to court approval.
The Movement for Quality in Government and women's groups told the High Court last week that the Attorney General ignored testimony of witnesses against former President Moshe Katzav. Replying to the government's position on petitions to void the plea agreement with Katzav, the groups charged that leaks to the media were manipulated.
Katzav’s lawyers have sharply criticized critics of the plea bargain. "The blood of Katsav has been shed in scenes reminiscent of witches being burned at the stake after being sentenced by the masses during the Middle Ages," his attorneys wrote to the High Court. They charged that the media has tied Katzav "to the stake."