Former Israeli president Katsav begins rape sentence

The former Israeli president Moshe Katsav arrived Wednesday at Maasiyahu prison near Tel Aviv to begin his seven-year rape sentence, the Huffington Post reported.

More on GlobalPost: Moshe Katsav, ex-Israeli president, gets 7 years for rape (VIDEO)

Katsav, who was convicted in December last year, repeated claims that he is innocent, and accused the state of "executing" him.

Katsav told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Tuesday night:

"In my case there is no proof – just version against version. You can't judge a person based on impressions … Some evidence, some proof, must be presented …. In these cases you need to bring more evidence, more proof, witnesses from real time, someone who saw something, bring DNA… there is nothing."

Katsav was convicted of raping a former employee in the 1990s, when he was a minister, and the sexual assault of two women during his presidential tenure between 2000 and 2007.

He launched an appeal in August and was allowed to remain free while it was in progress. But Israel's Supreme Court unanimously upheld the rape conviction three months later.

The HuffPost described the day as “bittersweet” for Israel because, although the case showed that even presidents are equal before the law, it was shameful that the holder of a lofty office was being jailed for such a crime.

Katsav almost escaped a prison sentence, after resigning as president under a plea bargain in 2007, two weeks before his seven-year term was to expire, the BBC reported.

However he later rejected the deal he had struck with prosecutors.

Throughout his trial, Katsav was portrayed as a sexual predator who routinely harassed female staff – but he claimed that he was the target of a media plot.

Katsav is the first former Israeli head of state to be jailed.