May 13, 2016
Former Israeli President Moshe Qatsav has sub-mitted a clemency request to current President Reuven Rivlin.
The request, reportedly filed Sunday, comes a week after reports that a request for a pardon for Qatsav would be filed due to his alleged deteriorating mental health, Israel’s Channel 2 reported.
Last month, an Israel Prisons Service parole board unanimously rejected his request for early release.
Qatsav, 70, personally wrote the clemency request submitted to Rivlin calling on the president to exercise “kindness, pity and mercy.” The request points to his “great suffering” and says the denial of his early parole further harmed his already deteriorating mental state, according to Channel 2.
Though he did not admit guilt for the crimes for which he was convicted, the clemency request included a letter from Qatsav in which he apologizes in general if anyone was hurt by his actions.
Qatsav has served about two-thirds of a seven-year jail sentence for convictions on rape, sexual assault and harassment of female staff members. He began serving his sentence in December 2011 and is scheduled to be released in December 2018.
Early parole with up to a one-third reduction in a sentence is common in Israel.
Among the parole board’s reasons for rejecting the request were that Qatsav has not admitted guilt, accepted responsibility for his actions or shown any remorse. He also has said he did not receive a fair trial.
Though prison officials have not reported any signs of mental distress or requested the assistance of a psychiatrist, Qatsav’s family says the former president’s mental health is deteriorating as a result of his imprisonment.
Qatsav’s wife, Gila, has met twice with Rivlin about a possible pardon for her husband. Press reports suggest Rivlin is unlikely to grant his predecessor clemency—and has told Gila Qatsav as much.
