Former Israeli President Moshe Katsav will be indicted on several charges including rape and sexual offenses, the Justice Ministry says.

"Following the completion of the investigation... the Attorney General and the state prosecutor decided to indict Mr. Moshe Katsav over sexual offences against several of his employees when he acted as tourism minister and president, including charges of rape and sexual assault," said a justice ministry statement.

"The decision was made after the attorney general and state prosecutor reached the conclusion that the complainants' testimony was reliable and that there is sufficient evidence for an indictment," read the statement.

The local media reported that the official indictment would be filed within days.

The case against Katsav was opened in 2006 when the then president alleged that a former female employee was trying to blackmail him.

After an investigation was launched, however, the female employee accused Katsav of raping her while she was his secretary in the late 1990s. Katsav was forced to leave office following the scandal.

Source: Press TV

jordan484 wrote on Mar 9^th, 2009 at 9:37am: