Parole board delays Katsav early release decision by a week

A prison parole board met Sunday to consider an early release application from former president Moshe Katsav, who is serving a seven-year sentence for rape, but delayed announcing the decision by a week, the courts said.

All discussions at the hearing were being kept under wraps until the announcement next Sunday, according to a statement sent out by the court. No further details or explanations were given.

However, Israel Radio reported that the discussion lasted more than five hours and the state prosecution asked that any early release be delayed several months.

Katsav has already served more than two-thirds of his sentence, making him eligible for parole, but has previously been denied early release several times for failing to acknowledge his acts or express any remorse.

But the ex-president is thought to have a better chance this time, with prison officials saying that he has apparently begun to show indications of internalizing the implications of his actions, a departure from his previous insistence on his absolute innocence and adamant refusal to participate in rehabilitation programs.

Late Sunday, Channel 2 quoted from a letter Katsav is said to have sent to close friends, acknowledging pain caused to his victims. “I’m sure the women who filed complaints against me were hurt, and did go through what they said they went through,” Katsav was quoted as writing. “I have made mistakes and I must learn the lessons. I now recognize that I hurt them, and that I did not see the signs that they were hurt. I erred.

If Katsav has now made similar comments to the parole board, taking a degree of responsibility for his actions, his prospects of early release would be improved, the TV report indicated.

The chair of the parole board has apparently accepted Katsav’s claim that he cannot participate in group therapy because anything he says there could leak out to the press and further damage his reputation, Channel 2 reported ahead of the meeting.

Katsav has been meeting privately with a prison social worker who was expected to tell the parole board that the former president has been contemplating his actions — though he will still not admit to any guilt.

In light of the social worker’s opinion, the state prosecution, which so far has opposed releasing Katsav or even holding another parole hearing, is prepared to ease its objections, Hebrew media reported.

The prosecution has in the past maintained that private sessions with a social worker are no substitute for group therapy, and has opposed parole on the grounds that the feelings of Katsav’s victims must be taken into consideration since the ex-president has not shown any remorse.

According to the Hebrew-language Ynet news site, since Katsav has completed more than the minimum prison time needed before appealing for parole, a board decision in his favor could see him released immediately.

The former president, 71, was convicted on December 30, 2010, of two counts of rape, among other related charges. He began serving his sentence in Ma’asiyahu Prison in December 2011 and is slated for release in December 2018.

Katsav has consistently denied committing any offenses and has portrayed himself as a victim. When his previous attempts to secure his release were shot down, it was reported at the time that Katsav had then been placed on a suicide watch and given psychological counseling.

Early parole is very common in the Israeli prison system, with a majority of prisoners managing to obtain the standard one-third reduction to their sentence for good behavior.

The Israel Prisons Service has said Katsav’s behavior as a prisoner has been above reproach.

If the upcoming parole request is denied, Katsav’s last resort for shortening his sentence will be to appeal for clemency from President Reuven Rivlin. The two are former Likud colleagues who served together for many years in the Knesset before Katsav won the presidency.