Former Israeli president ``bullied’’ in jail, requests clemency

Former Israeli president Moshe Katsav was been ``bullied’’ in jail, where he is serving a seven-year sentence for rape and sexual harassment, his wife said in a letter published on Tuesday.

Yediot  Ahronot printed what it said was a transcript of the recent letter to Israeli president, Shimon Peres, in which Gila
Katsav asked that clemency be given to her husband.

Katsav 66, began serving his sentence in a prison east of Tel Aviv in December.

Gila said her husband was serving with a number of convicts whose own requests for clemency had been rejected by her husband when he was president from 2000 to 2007.

These convicts whose application for clemency was rejected by Katsay were allegedly exploiting the opportunity to take revenge.

The man who once served in an honourable position ``has become the subject of anger and contempt’’ and has heard ``curses, threats and insults during several nights,’’ she wrote.

Sivan Weizman, a spokeswoman for the Israel Prison Service, told dpa that prison authorities were unaware of the alleged abuse
and that no official complaint had been submitted.

Yediot quoted a man ``familiar’’ with Katsav's daily routine as saying that fellow inmates wetted his mattress by pouring chemicals
on it, pasted mouse-trap glue in his prison cell and stole his meat portions, which are handed out on a weekly basis.

One influential inmate ordered he be ostracised, leaving Katsav to take his meal for the Jewish New Year on Sept.16 while
sitting alone, the paper's source said.

Peres  has indicated in the past that he has no intention of granting Katsav a presidential pardon.