Wednesday, July 04, 2007

An Insight into the Katzav Affair

From the start this was an affair full of passions. It is doubtful whether it had any chance of being sorted out lucidly, a fact which may have caused Attorney General Menachem Mazuz to have difficulty with his reading comprehension. Mazuz himself could have seen what the president's attorneys found in the interrogation material, and then perhaps he would not have accused Katsav of rape. Mazuz does not deserve to be condemned for the fact that he changed his mind about the indictment he had published, if he discovered that there was no chance of proving it. He erred when he published the first indictment.

It is of course possible that Mazuz knew in the first place that there was no basis for convicting the former president, and that publication of the intent to prosecute him for rape was meant to pressure Katsav into admitting at least to something. Mazuz used Judgment Day weapons in order to achieve his goal: television. It is possible that Mazuz was so impressed by the headlines he had created that he believed them himself. Whatever the case, the media believed Mazuz. Now they feel cheated: There was rape, but what remains is an indecent act. This is a good opportunity to remind everyone once again of the value of skepticism.

Wise people do not believe everything they read in the newspapers. That's good advice even for journalists.


Source.

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