Moshe Katsav has maintained his innocence despite being convicted on two counts of rape.
Ramla, Israel:
A parole board today rejected a request for early release for Former Israeli president Moshe Katsav, imprisoned since 2011 for rape and other sexual offences, officials said.
The decision came just four months after a previous bid by the disgraced former leader to reduce a third of his seven-year sentence, rejected in part because he had expressed no remorse over his crimes and undergone no rehabilitative process.
Katsav, 70, had appealed the April decision and said he was undergoing a process of introversion and could be rehabilitated.
But the parole board said today that "it is not time to order the release of the prisoner or cancel the committee's previous decision", a statement issued by the court administration read.
The board, however, noted that Katsav could be freed before the end of his term "if he continues dealing with his problems in prison", in which case he would could approach them again after six months.
Katsav has always maintained his innocence despite being convicted in December 2010 on two counts of rape, sexual harassment, indecent acts and obstruction of justice.
The decision came just four months after a previous bid by the disgraced former leader to reduce a third of his seven-year sentence, rejected in part because he had expressed no remorse over his crimes and undergone no rehabilitative process.
Katsav, 70, had appealed the April decision and said he was undergoing a process of introversion and could be rehabilitated.
But the parole board said today that "it is not time to order the release of the prisoner or cancel the committee's previous decision", a statement issued by the court administration read.
The board, however, noted that Katsav could be freed before the end of his term "if he continues dealing with his problems in prison", in which case he would could approach them again after six months.
Katsav has always maintained his innocence despite being convicted in December 2010 on two counts of rape, sexual harassment, indecent acts and obstruction of justice.
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