Israel’s President calls Scott Morrison on Malka Leifer extradition
Scott Morrison has welcomed an Israeli court ruling paving the way for the extradition of accused sex predator Malka Leifer.
Scott Morrison has welcomed an Israeli court ruling paving the way for the extradition of accused sex predator Malka Leifer, in a phone call with Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin.
Mr Rivlin called the Prime Minister on Wednesday night, after the Jerusalem District Court ruled Ms Leifer was fit to travel.
Mr Morrison noted that the decision could be appealed but said it was a positive development in the extradition process, which started under the Abbott government in 2014. He told Mr Rivlin the news was a great relief for the victims and their families, who had carried an enormous burden.
Mr Morrison told Sky News earlier he had consistently raised the issue with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior leaders in the country. “And so that news is very welcome … I want to commend all of those who’ve been campaigning strongly on this here in Australia and in Israel,” he said.
“This is a very good day for them, but the ultimate day is still a little bit away. And hopefully that will be soon.”
Judge Chana Miriam Lomp ruled in the Jerusalem District Court on Tuesday night AEST that the 54-year-old had been feigning mental illness to avoid being put on the plane from Israel. Her ruling was a momentous legal victory for three Melbourne sisters who had waited nearly a decade for their day in court. Ending a five-year tussle with Ms Leifer’s lawyers, the judge accepted advice from a panel of three psychiatrists that the former principal of Melbourne’s ultra-orthodox Adass Israel Jewish school had been faking all along.
“The respondent is faking with respect to her mental judgment and her ability to function,” Judge Lomp said. “She is fit to stand trial and I will therefore order renewal of the extradition proceedings.”
Canberra applied for her extradition from Israel on 74 charges of sexual abuse, including rape.
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