SportFreak
22-08-06, 17:02
Police seize computers, documents from president's residence; Katsav to be questioned Wednesday
Police on Monday night seized computers and documents in a raid on the President's Residence in Jerusalem, it emerged Tuesday. Among the computers taken in the raid was a computer from the president's office.
The raid is part of an investigation into claims by a former employee that the president coerced her into sexual relations with him.
Katsav, who has denied wrongdoing, is facing possible rape charges as a result of the complaint.
Police said the president will be questioned under caution at his residence on Wednesday, and a complainant would be brought in for a confrontation with him.
The President's Residence declined to comment on the raid. In a statement issued after the news broke, Katsav's office said he would cooperate with the investigation.
"The president is interested in giving his full version and to prove the lies of the serious accusations," the statement said.
Investigators are searching the computers and documents seized for correspondence or other information that could shed light on the nature of the relationship Katsav had with the former employee and with other staff at the Residence.
The police have begun to decipher the information found on the computers, saying that they hoped the raid would lead them to information that could help the case.
The aim of the investigators was to accumulate further information so that their case is not based solely on differing versions of events by the two sides.
Investigators have yet to determine which specific charges will be brought against the president on the basis of the woman's accusations.
Law enforcement officials said Thursday that if the former employee's claims that she was powerless in turning away Katsav's advances are deemed credible, the investigation would then focus on possible rape charges against the president.
By law, intimate relations with a woman who is precluded from providing full consent by her own volition is considered rape. If, however, investigators find the relations were consensual, police could recommend charging Katsav with "forbidden consensual intercourse," a statute which forbids exploiting a position of authority in the workplace for the purposes of having sex.
Some two months ago, Katsav gave Attorney General Menachem Mazuz a letter, in which he said that he believed the former employee had tried to extort him, threatening that if he denied her requests she would accuse him of sexual harassment.
The woman consented to take a lie detector test about a week ago. The test included questions about the sexual contact between the employee and the president, and indicated that the woman had answered several questions truthfully. However, in other cases her answers were not unequivocal and the police were collecting testimonies to corroborate or refute her testimony.
About a month ago the special inquiry team in charge of the affair, headed by Brigadier General Yoav Sigalovitch, summoned the former employee to the station in Lod. At first they questioned her under warning on suspicion of attempted extortion. Later, however, she gave them a detailed account of her grievances against the president, although she did not submit an official complaint.
Police on Monday night seized computers and documents in a raid on the President's Residence in Jerusalem, it emerged Tuesday. Among the computers taken in the raid was a computer from the president's office.
The raid is part of an investigation into claims by a former employee that the president coerced her into sexual relations with him.
Katsav, who has denied wrongdoing, is facing possible rape charges as a result of the complaint.
Police said the president will be questioned under caution at his residence on Wednesday, and a complainant would be brought in for a confrontation with him.
The President's Residence declined to comment on the raid. In a statement issued after the news broke, Katsav's office said he would cooperate with the investigation.
"The president is interested in giving his full version and to prove the lies of the serious accusations," the statement said.
Investigators are searching the computers and documents seized for correspondence or other information that could shed light on the nature of the relationship Katsav had with the former employee and with other staff at the Residence.
The police have begun to decipher the information found on the computers, saying that they hoped the raid would lead them to information that could help the case.
The aim of the investigators was to accumulate further information so that their case is not based solely on differing versions of events by the two sides.
Investigators have yet to determine which specific charges will be brought against the president on the basis of the woman's accusations.
Law enforcement officials said Thursday that if the former employee's claims that she was powerless in turning away Katsav's advances are deemed credible, the investigation would then focus on possible rape charges against the president.
By law, intimate relations with a woman who is precluded from providing full consent by her own volition is considered rape. If, however, investigators find the relations were consensual, police could recommend charging Katsav with "forbidden consensual intercourse," a statute which forbids exploiting a position of authority in the workplace for the purposes of having sex.
Some two months ago, Katsav gave Attorney General Menachem Mazuz a letter, in which he said that he believed the former employee had tried to extort him, threatening that if he denied her requests she would accuse him of sexual harassment.
The woman consented to take a lie detector test about a week ago. The test included questions about the sexual contact between the employee and the president, and indicated that the woman had answered several questions truthfully. However, in other cases her answers were not unequivocal and the police were collecting testimonies to corroborate or refute her testimony.
About a month ago the special inquiry team in charge of the affair, headed by Brigadier General Yoav Sigalovitch, summoned the former employee to the station in Lod. At first they questioned her under warning on suspicion of attempted extortion. Later, however, she gave them a detailed account of her grievances against the president, although she did not submit an official complaint.