ISRAEL:Israel's former justice minister Haim Ramon was convicted yesterday of sexual misconduct for forcibly kissing a young woman soldier in the latest in a string of government scandals.
Ramon, a close ally of prime minister Ehud Olmert, resigned from his post in August after he was charged. He faces up to three years in jail.
His case is one of several high-profile cases to have damaged the reputation of the government. The attorney-general has said he has enough evidence to charge the president, Moshe Katsav, with rape and other sexual offences, and another high-profile politician, Tzahi Hanegbi, has been charged with fraud, bribery and perjury.
Yesterday's conviction ends Ramon's political career and was apparently not expected by some in government, who were reportedly hoping to reinstate him as justice minister within hours of an acquittal.