Peres slams interviews with Rabin's killer

JERUSALEM, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- Israeli President Shimon Peres Sunday condemned two television stations for airing interviews with the man who assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

"Criminals have become celebs, and they are given a stage and interviews," Peres told reporters. "People have lost it; just as you wouldn't ask a rapist what his motives were, I don't care what Yigal Amir has to say."

Peres spoke during a tour of Hebrew University after parts of interviews with Amir were shown on Channels 2 and 10, Ynetnews.com reported, noting the full interviews were canceled because of public pressure.

As punishment for giving the unauthorized interviews, Amir was transferred to an isolation cell in Ramon Prison in southern Israel where he is to have no contact with his family or conjugal visits by his wife for three months, Ynetnews.com reported.

Amir, a radical Orthodox Jew, fatally shot Rabin in 1995 at a rally in Tel Aviv. Amir said he believed Rabin was destroying Israel by supporting the Oslo Peace Accords.