Irish senator David Norris has vowed to continue his presidential campaign despite admitting his chances of being nominated are “slim”.
The BBC reported yesterday:
It has emerged that Mr Norris (who is a member of the Church of Ireland), wrote to an Israeli court pleading for clemency for his former partner Ezra Yizhak who was accused of the statutory rape of a 15-year-old Palestinian boy in 1992.
The letter said his former partner was a “good and moral person”.
A number of people have resigned from Mr Norris’ campaign team.
Written on parliamentary notepaper, the letter said that Yizhak had been lured into a “carefully prepared trap” and had unwisely pleaded guilty to the charges.
Mr Norris told the Sunday Independent that he remained absolutely committed to his campaign but it was now “in serious trouble”.
He was embroiled in a separate controversy at the end of May over an interview in which he expressed views on paedophilia and incest.