Imprisoned ex-president must wear uniform
Israel Prison Service revokes Moshe Katsav's plain-clothes privileges
Three months into his seven-year sentence former president Moshe Katsav has been stripped of the privilege to wear non-prison clothing.
Upon his incarceration, Katsav refused to wear a prisoner’s uniform while receiving visitors. Shortly thereafter, the Israeli Prison Service permitted him to leave the holding cell in order to receive visitors wearing a Prison Service jacket instead of a uniform.
Katsav’s family said that he will no longer receive visitors because of the change in policy. “He prefers forgoing visitations to wearing a prison uniform,” they said.
The Israel Prison Service said, “The time frame wherein he was permitted to wear [a Prisons Service] jacket was limited from the start.”
The arrangement reportedly enraged other prisoners.
The Tel Aviv District Court sentenced Katsav in March 2011 to seven years in prison on two counts of rape and obstruction of justice. After a failed appeal to the Supreme Court, he began his sentence in November.