AUSTRALIA/ISRAEL
The Guardian
Oliver Holmes in Jerusalem
2 May 2018
A former Melbourne head teacher wanted by Australian police on 74 charges of child sex abuse will face extradition proceedings this month, a judge in Israel has ruled.
At the Jerusalem district court on Wednesday, the judge delayed the hearing until 16 May and ordered the prosecution to hand over evidence it claims shows Malka Leifer is mentally fit to be extradited.
Guards escorted Leifer, 54, into court on Wednesday with her hands cuffed.
Manny Waks, an Australian activist who works to combat child sex abuse in the Jewish community and lives in Israel, was present and walked up to Leifer after she was brought into the courtroom. “Can I ask you for a message to send to the girls that you abused?” Waks asked. Leifer gave no response.
Leifer, 54, stood only when the judge entered the room, but spent the majority of the trial hunkered over with her head buried in her arms, even bending down entirely at times behind the court dock. At one point, she appeared in distress and the judge permitted a request from a guard for her to leave the room.
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