ISRAELI COURT DELAYS DECISION ON EXTRADITION OF ALLEGED CHILD SEX-OFFENDER

AUSTRALIA and ISRAEL
The Jerusalem Post

February 27, 2018

By Tamara Zieve

Malka Leifer to remain in custody in a psychiatric hospital.

he Jerusalem District Court postponed a decision about extraditing Australian suspected child sex-offender, Malka Leifer, until the end of next month.

Police arrested Leifer earlier this month after an undercover investigation indicated that she had been feigning mental illness to avoid extradition.

The judge ruled on Tuesday that Leifer will remain in custody in a psychiatric hospital until the district psychiatrist can provide an assessment on her state, accepting the defense’s complaint that the new evaluation was not signed by the district psychiatrist, but by two other doctors.

The judge also ordered the prosecution to hand all its evidence to the defense.

A new hearing is scheduled to take place next month.

AFP reported that Leifer’s attorney, Yehuda Fried, told journalists after the hearing that he was confident the debate over whether Leifer could be extradited would take “years.”

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