Decision to be handed down in extradition case for accused child abuser Malka Leifer
After 67 hearings, an Israeli court will decide whether an ex-Melbourne teacher accused of child abuse should be extradited.
World
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A fugitive Melbourne school principal accused of 74 charges of sexual abuse may finally be ordered to be extradited from Israel next week.
The Jerusalem District Court was expected to rule on her case, in the 67th hearing of the matter that has dragged on for years.
Malka Leifer, who was on remand, will find out whether Judge Chana Miriam Lomp will send her back to face charges over allegations of abuse during her time at Melbourne’s Adass Israel School.
Judge Lomp must rule on whether Leifer was fit to be extradited after she had claimed that she was mentally unwell.
Manny Waks, of victims’ rights group Kol V’Oz, will represent Melbourne sisters Dassi Erlich, Nicole Meyer and Elly Sapper because court attendance will be restricted due to the coronavirus.
Mr Waks said if Judge Lomp ruled that Leifer could be extradited it would need to be sent to the High Court to be rubber stamped in a formal extradition hearing.
Ms Meyer has previously told News Corp Australia that she was disappointed with delays in the case.
Leifer, 52, fled Australia in 2008 after she was told that the sisters were about to make a police complaint.
She lived in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Israel and had complained that she was too sick to be sent back to Australia.
Her lawyers shouted to a media pack outside the court in January that it was “not over until it’s over” following a fiery courtroom hearing that was peppered with raised voices.
Leifer was dubbed a fraud by prosecutors following a psychiatric report that rejected claims she was unfit for trial and accused her supporters of deliberately delaying the court process.