JERUSALEM (ISRAEL)
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
March 8, 2018
By Sophie McNeill
There were angry scenes outside a Jerusalem court after an Israeli judge ruled former Melbourne principal Malka Leifer could be freed from police custody to home detention.
Ms Leifer is wanted by Victorian police on 74 charges of child sexual abuse, including rape.
The former principal of the Addas ultra orthodox girls school in Melbourne has been in custody since February 12 after Israeli police rearrested the 54-year-old, accusing her of faking mental illness for the past three years in order to avoid extradition to Australia.
The court was delayed by nearly an hour to wait for the arrival of senior Rabbi Yitzchak Dovid Grossman.
Rabbi Grossman, who has never previously been associated with the case, argued to the Judge Ram Winograd that it was a “humiliation” for Ms Leifer to remain in custody and it would be bad for her mental health.
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