Former Israeli president Moshe Katsav began serving a seven-year prison term for rape on Wednesday, professing his innocence and saying he was being "buried alive".
The case has captivated the country for more than five years and marked the first time a former Israeli head of state has been jailed. Officials say it proves no one is above the law.
Katsav, 66, was president from 2000 to 2007. He was convicted last year of twice raping an aide when he was a cabinet minister in the late 1990s and sexually assaulting two other womenwho worked for him while he was president.
