Brazil to Extradite Rabbi Elior Chen, Jerusalem Post, May 22, 2009

Brazil to Extradite "Rabbi" Elior Chen

Jerusalem Post
May 22, 2009

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1242212441776&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Suspected ringleader of abusers, "Rabbi" Elior Chen.

Brazil's Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the extradition of Rabbi Elior Chen to Israel where he will stand trial on charges of child abuse, the Justice Ministry said on Friday.

Chen, the suspected ringleader and spiritual mentor in one of the worst child abuse cases in Israeli history, was arrested in Sao Paolo on June 3, 2008 after his local lawyer called Brazilian police with information about his whereabouts. He has been fighting his extradition from Brazil ever since.

Israel and Brazil do not have an extradition treaty, but law enforcement officials have been working hand-in-hand since an international warrant for Chen's arrest was issued in April 2008. At the time, the Justice Ministry had said that Chen could be extradited to Israel 'in the coming weeks' if he did not mount a protracted legal battle.

Chen and his followers are suspected of savagely and systematically beating two brothers, aged three and four, with hammers, knives and other instruments for months, until the younger boy lost consciousness in March.

They are also suspected of the severe abuse of other children in the family.

The three-year-old suffered permanent brain damage as a result of the abuse, and is expected to remain in a vegetative state for the rest of his life.

Chen had fled the country just as police uncovered the abuse case, traveling to Brazil via Canada with his own family.

He turned himself in to Brazilian police on June 3 to avoid besmirching the local Jewish community, who was getting bad press as a result of the case, his lawyer said.

Five people, including the children's mother, have already been indicted.The mother forced her children to eat feces, locked them in a suitcase for three days - letting them out only for brief periods of time - repeatedly beat, whipped, and shook them, burned their hands with a lighter and a heater, and gave them freezing showers, according to the charge sheet.

The mother, Chen and his 'educators' are also suspected of pouring salt on the three-year-old's burn wounds, stuffing his mouth with a kippa and sealing it with masking tape, as well as giving the children alcoholic drinks until they vomited.