ISRAEL
Sydney Morning Herald
May 9, 2016
Kate Shuttleworth
Jerusalem: An Israeli court has ruled that all legal proceedings against a fugitive principal should be suspended until she receives psychiatric treatment, further delaying a decision on her extradition to Australia.
Malka Leifer faces prosecution in relation to 74 alleged sexual offences against girls she taught at Adass Israel School, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish school in the Melbourne suburb of Elsternwick.
Ms Leifer on Sunday failed to appear in the Jerusalem District Court for the eighth time in two years, but her legal team led by Yehuda Fried managed to avoid a court hearing on an extradition order to Victoria.
So far all court hearings have concentrated on Ms Leifer’s psychiatric state.
Ms Leifer’s lawyers have consistently argued she is unwell and unfit to appear in court. They argue she experiences panic attacks and bouts of depression as each court hearing approaches, resulting in each session proceeding without her participation.
Prosecutor Avital Ribner-Oron asked Judge Amnon Cohen to hospitalise Ms Leifer for treatment, with the district psychiatrist’s reporting that she had suffered a psychotic episode ahead of her last court appearance in April. At the time she was hospitalised for two days.
Ms Ribner-Oron told the judge the state believed Ms Leifer should be hospitalised and not treated in an outpatient capacity.
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